Not Dead Yet
by totallyunorthodox
Summary: A mysterious vampire shows up to protect Sookie, but it's hard to know who to trust when enemies are crawling out of the woodwork.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Okay, so this takes after season three. I kind of just made up what happens in the finale and go from there. I also add tidbits of information found only in the books, but it's nothing major to the plot. Hope you guys enjoy.**

I was so done with vampires.

Okay, so I realize that I've made that promise to myself several times before. But this time I really meant it. There is a very big line between dating a vampire and having to do the dirty work for his boss (well, technically sheriff but in swearing off vampires I have also applied it to their lingo), and being kidnapped by some three thousand year old psychopath who had an undead (har har) dream of walking in the sunlight. Furthermore, when it was a joint effort of the said boyfriend and his boss to help this psychotic bloodsucker, it just didn't bode well with me. One minute, both Russell and Eric were sucking me dry while I looked into the eyes of the man I had once thought was the love of my life, waiting for him to save me. Of course, he never did. The one thing I have come to learn about vampires is that they do not idolize Superman – or even Batman. Being heroes wasn't exactly in their nature. Bill sure did like to pretend he was though.

I can't say what really happened after I passed out because, well, I was unconscious. When I woke up again, I thought I was dead for a minute. That led me to wonder if I even made it to heaven. Maybe God really did hate vampires, and since I was so heavily involved with them, he withdrew any love he had for me. If he had had any to begin with. Telepaths could always be in that same unlovable category as vampires. Hell, might as well throw in the Shifters and Weres too. I had to think about adding faeries to the list of the damned for a good long minute, because they had just always seemed so angelic to me. After a while I decided they didn't count – they didn't even live in the same world as us, after all. Maybe a different God watched over them.

While I was pondering whether or not Jesus still loved me, it never really occurred to me to actually see where I was. To my mild surprise, I in fact had not died. I was in my room again, and the first one I see is none other than Bill Compton. He had been so happy to see that I was awake – apparently he had been worrying about whether or not Jesus loved me enough to let me into heaven also. Before I could even get a word in, he started explaining everything that happened. He told me that he hadn't really betrayed me; that giving me to Russell was a plan Eric had devised to actually _save_ me. Maybe I'm just shallow, but I wasn't very thankful. I wasn't thankful to Bill. I wasn't thankful to Eric. I wasn't thankful to Eric's daughter Pam. I sure as hell wasn't thankful to Russell. After I informed him of my complete lack of appreciativeness, Bill went on to tell the rest of the story. Eric had handcuffed Russell to him when they had gone out in the sunlight, planning on dying just so he could kill Russell. Unfortunately for Eric, that hadn't exactly gone like he wanted. Witnessing it from the security cameras inside Fangtasia, Russell had apparently just flown off, dragging Eric with him. Quite rudely, I giggled when I heard that part. Eric, as much as I hated him, was an excellent strategist. It would just seem like to me Mr. High and Mighty would have thought of something as simple as that. Then again, I suppose I didn't know Eric as well as I thought I did. I didn't know Bill as well as I thought I did.

So now Eric was missing with Russell, and Pam was going absolutely insane. She loved Eric very much, and I knew that the feeling was mutual. Vampires weren't the most expressive (a rock showed more emotion), but I had caught glimpses of true feelings from them every now and again. Eric had been torn apart when Godric died. He seemed to have some conflicting feelings towards me as well – like, whether I would be better off as a snack or one step below his slave. If anything, the most emotion I've ever seen from a vampire was Bill. He had been so damn persuasive in making me feel like he cared for me, like he really loved me. I guess my inexperience with men showed in that area – I was far too trusting. I had overlooked his faults time and time again, all because I loved him, and I thought he loved me. This wasn't the first time I came close to dying since I've been with Bill; the number has increased greatly since I started dating him. But this was the last time that I was going to go through this. I swore off vampires then and there while sitting in my bed, and I told Bill that without one ounce of sympathy. I rescinded his invitation. It was always kind of fun, to watch them walk backwards like that. When that was finished, I had made myself smile at finally letting things get back to normal.

Granted, I had tears streaming down my face, but that wasn't the point.

It's been almost a week since then. I went back to work at Merlotte's, and Sam of course wanted to know where I had been. I didn't tell him, I just promised him that I wouldn't be missing work again for a long while. He kind of looked at me funny when I said that, like he didn't really believe it. That had just given me motivation to prove myself right. I had a great boss, God bless him, and he's been very lenient as far as me missing work goes. It tended to happen quite often after, you guessed it, I started dating a vampire. Looking at myself in the mirror, my hair pulled back into a ponytail and work uniform on, I smiled at my reflection. I was going to be go to work, and be there for my whole shift. Actually, I was probably going to arrive a bit early if traffic was light – which in a place like Bon Temps, it always was.

Giving myself a mental pat on the back, I walked out of my bedroom and into the kitchen to get myself a glass of water. I was grabbing the keys to my car when someone knocked on my door. I stopped midstride, turning to look towards the source of the noise like they might barge in at any minute. I knew it wasn't Jason. I usually was able to hear his truck tearing up my driveway. Plus, he usually just walked in anyway. In fact, I hadn't heard any cars coming up my driveway. I hadn't necessarily been paying attention, but I was instantly suspicious. It had just gotten dark out, which meant that my visitor could very well be part of the fanged variety. I reached out with my mind, and sure enough all I found was a negative space. A void. A clear sign that a walking dead person was outside my front door.

In a panic, I quickly ran through a list of vampires that I may have forgotten to rescind their invitations. My first thought was that it was Bill, maybe coming to try and reconcile or at least talk to me. I wouldn't think that he would come this soon though; I had been pretty firm when I told him we were through. Next, my mind went to Eric. He could have somehow escaped Russell and was now coming to see me for some unforeseeable reason. Maybe he wanted me to do another job for him. Oh, that would be rich. Next on my list of potential undead visitors was Russell himself, and for a second I was genuinely terrified. Then I reminded myself that I had never invited him into my home in the first place, so he wouldn't be able to get me. Still, that wasn't all that comforting. By the time I actually started to creep toward my door I was so jumpy that my visitor probably thought I was tap dancing my way to do the door. Turning the knob, I opened the door a crack, making sure I was still out of grabbing distance. Seeing who it was, I sighed and opened it fully. "Jessica."

The redhead smiled at me, her teeth stunningly white. "Hello Sookie," she said, friendly as could be. I was slightly mad at myself for already breaking my vow to never associate with vampires again, but I felt bad for Jessica. She had been turned against her will. Bill was forced to turn her as a punishment for staking another vampire who was trying to kill me. So Jessica being turned was indirectly my fault. She didn't see it that way, which was good, but that didn't mean I still didn't have the thoughts myself.

I gave a quick, half hearted smile in return. "Bill ain't here," I told her, assuming and hoping that's why she was on my step. "I haven't seen him for nearly a week." I noticed that Jessica was dressed the exact same way I was. She had gotten a job at Merlotte's as well, and considering she was a vampire, she had to work the night shift. My shift. This was going to be the first time we were going to work together.

"Oh I know," she assured me. "I'm kind of here because of Bill." She paused for a moment. "He ain't right without you, Sookie. He's miserable. Just mopes around and talks to himself. He's horrible company." I don't think she had come here to complain to me, but that's what she ended up doing. "He looks real bad, too. He ain't drinking as much as he should be," she added. I had a funny feeling she was discreetly trying to say that Bill's miserable condition was my fault. She'd be right, but he forced my hand.

"I don't know if he's told you or not, Jess, but he kind of just handed me over to Russell. I was treated like I was some sort of buffet!" This was the first time I've ever even mentioned the incident to anyone, so it came out a lot more heated than I wanted it too. "Plus, I almost died for about the hundredth time since I've been with Bill." I was exaggerating big time, but I wanted to get my point across. I lowered my voice a bit. "I'm sick of almost dying just because I'm dating a vampire. I'm sick of being lied too and betrayed. I can't do this." Somehow I had gone from sounding strong and convincing to gentle and almost begging. It was like everyone thought I was dumb for wanting to live. I guess that's what happens when you talk about life to a bunch of dead people.

As I expected, Jessica did look at me like I was a bit slow. I felt a bitter taste rise in my throat. She had been human not all that long ago. Surely she hadn't lost her humanity already; she had to remember what it was like to breathe and walk in the sunlight. Of course, I wasn't an expert on the vampire psyche. Maybe she just didn't care anymore. "Everything Bill has done for you is to protect you," she pointed out matter-of-factly. Her lips compressed into a thin line, and she looked like she was thinking about something. When she spoke again, her voice was very soft. "You can't understand how hard it is, for a vampire to love a human. We want to protect you with every inch of our being, keep you to ourselves, save you from every scrape and cut. We do not always do it in the way that you would, but we do it the best way we know how."

I had a feeling she wasn't talking to me anymore, at least not for my benefit. She was noticeably withdrawn, and her eyes were cast on the ground. I thought I could see the bloody tears start to rim her eyes. I knew that she had a thing going with Hoyt, but I wasn't aware of how serious they were. Evidently, it appeared that they were very serious. And she had doubts about it; a lot of them. She was worried about something other than just his welfare. I was so stunned by all of this information I was getting from her that I thought I was inside her head. After a moment, I knew for sure that I wasn't. Her face was just extremely expressive – a completely clear window to her heart. Despite myself, I felt a pang of sympathy for her. Life had not been fair to Jessica.

"I understand that," I said slowly, trying to pick my words carefully. "But I want to be human. I want to date human men and not worry about having my throat torn out any given day by a vampire." I looked at my watch and frowned. "Jessica, I really have to go to work. I'm going to be late."

"You can't date human men," she said flatly, shooting a painful arrow right into me. She glanced around. "I was going to suggest we ride together to work, but I'm sure you won't want to now. I'll see you there." She turned to leave.

"Please, don't come back," I said suddenly, my voice stronger. I had to start my ban-on-vampires vow all over again, and I wanted to get it off to a good start. But I found that I felt a little bit of regret, saying it to Jessica. She had been my friend.

The girl hadn't hesitated in her stride away from me, and within a second she was gone. If I were to ever wish to be anything like a vampire, it would be to be able to have a just as memorable exit as they did. They were the masters of great exits. My highly inferior departure consisted of getting into my car and simply driving away. I was actually rather glum about the whole thing until I arrived at work, at which point I told myself I was being ridiculous. Getting out of my car, I planted a smile on my face as I walked into Merlotte's to start my shift. I greeted Sam and Arlene, a good friend of mine whom I had recently been getting distant with. She wasn't exactly a vampire sympathizer these days. I'm not either, anymore, I argued with myself, and then I felt ashamed. I didn't want the vampires to burn and die; I just wanted them to leave me alone. There was a big difference.

I spent half my night in mental turmoil over my feelings on vampires. I think that's why I didn't notice that there was one sitting in the bar. She wasn't in my area, but I should have noticed the empty space – the void. Not being able to help myself, I took a moment to look her over. I had thought that it might be Pam, coming to either talk to me about saving Eric or to blame me for his predicament. I wasn't sure what I would do in that situation. Luckily, I didn't have to find out, because the woman sitting in the booth definitely wasn't Pam. It was a vampire I had never seen before. She was middle aged, but very youthful looking. She had straight, long brown hair that went to her waist. Her face was round, and she had plump lips and a small nose. Her eyes were a bright blue, almost frighteningly so. She was dressed in sweats and a t-shirt – a vampire who either had no fashion sense or was too lazy to keep up with it.

She hadn't so much as glanced at me, which was good because I was basically staring at her. I had never seen someone who looked so serene in my life. That wasn't exactly the right word to describe how she looked, but it was the word on my word-of-the-day calendar and it got my point across. Her face was smooth, untroubled. If anyone had been around a vampire for more than five minutes, they knew that "peaceful" was not a word used to describe them. But that was what she was; that was how she made me feel just by looking at her. It was like she was almost human, and I was very interested in knowing who she was. Then my brain gave me a slap upside the head, reminding me very sternly that I was done with vampires. Even ones who could quite possibly be Mother Teresa as far as looks and general atmosphere were concerned.

After I went back to my job and blocked the strange vampire out of my mind, I picked up another abnormal vibe. It wasn't vampire, but it wasn't Shifter or Were either. I had never picked up a brain "signal" like it. And unlike the vampire who I had named in my mind as Teresa, this abnormal signal was a man who was staring at me. He was looking at me quite intently as well. It made me uncomfortable. He wasn't in my section either, so I couldn't serve him and try to get a glimpse into his mind. His mind wasn't like the jumbled mess of emotions I usually picked up from the furry ones; it was more like I could pick up strong intentions. Goals, maybe. It was odd, and I couldn't be sure because this was the first time I've ever experienced such a problem. In fact, the problem was multiplied by several levels because whatever I was picking up from this man's brain, it was centered on me.

Today might have been a bad day to swear off vampires.


	2. Chapter 2

The next six months were actually kind of slow. There were no vampires vying after my affections, or to drain me dry. I didn't stay up until the late hours of the night because that was the only time my company could be active. There was no need to take all the vitamins I had been taking for the sake of my blood cells. Just like I had been so giddy about before, I went to work on time. That effect had definitely worn off quickly. Still, I had to admit that I felt relatively good. I didn't have to randomly tell Sam I needed a couple days off. I didn't have to drink vampire blood more than I wanted just to save my life. I didn't get beaten up in some horribly bizarre way. Things were normal. Or, as normal as things could be for me. I still had that telepathy problem.

I could still know what regular people were thinking against my will, and it was just as exhausting as ever. Perhaps even more so now, knowing I wouldn't go home to the refuge of a vampire's silence. Sometimes, I almost gave in to calling Bill just because I missed it so much. That would be shallow of me to call on him just for my own personal gain, even though I had argued with myself over and over again that Bill had used me just as recklessly. They all had. That was why I wasn't didn't associate with them anymore. I really couldn't understand why I had to keep telling myself this.

I cleaned up a table that had recently been abandoned by customers, frowning when I saw they hadn't left a tip. That was always annoying, especially when they had worked my tail off by ordering an onslaught of various drinks. The whole group had been the broadcasting type when it came to their thoughts, which made it all the harder to serve them. They had had the clear intent of getting absolutely wasted, and I had to say that they succeeded in an astounding fashion. When they had paid the bill, I asked Sam to call a cab for them. There was no way I could have let any of them drive in their condition.

Just as I was wiping down the table with a cloth, the female vampire Teresa walked in. She had been a regular ever since the first night I saw her, and she had been no trouble to me or anyone else since she started to come here. Arlene hated waiting on her and made up reasons to hate her, which I knew instantly and thus disregarded anything she had to say, but there were others who hated her unreasonably as well. They were the people who grouped all vampires into a single group; thinking that one vampire's actions would be the actions of all. There had been no confrontations thus far, but I had heard more than enough angry thoughts and quiet conversation about the customer's distaste. But she had caused no problems, and was polite to the staff and tipped well.

She sat in my section for the first time. I was surprised. I had assumed that maybe she was a friend of Bill's, or even Eric's, and thus was not my number one fan. She hadn't ever given me more than a glance and a nod when we happened to meet eye contact. It didn't seem unfriendly to me, but I could be totally wrong. She could be here to watch me, and maybe eventually kill me. She could even be from Russell Edgington, whom I hadn't even heard of since he drank my blood. I didn't even know if he was still alive, or if he still had Eric. I was even more out of the loop than I had been before, and I had to admit that it didn't bother me much. Vampire politics were what led me into so much trouble and suffering in the first place.

I walked up to her table with a nervous grin. "Howdy," I greeted cheerfully. "What can I get ya?"

She looked up at me pleasantly, not smiling nor frowning. "True Blood, please." Her voice was pleasant, soft. I noticed that she wore little makeup, and her skin actually had a bit of color to it. So much for all vampires being pasty white.

"Coming right up," I said, my smile getting tighter. As I turned away, I noticed that the vampire looked rather bemused on my behalf. She had probably heard the stories of Crazy Sookie, the vampire lover. I returned with her bottle of blood and set it down in front of her. I realized that this was the first time I've talked to a vampire, other than short words with Jessica, in six months. I could hear the hum of peoples' thoughts around me, but standing there next to her, it made the noise not so loud. I cherished it.

"You are nervous around me," she observed correctly, looking at my face. Her thin eyebrows were perched in an upward arch, and she had her head slightly tilted to the side. She looked like a curious puppy. I almost giggled at the comparison.

"I don't mean to be," I said apologetically, and I knew I was being truthful. "What's your name?" I asked out of the blue. I just couldn't keep calling her Teresa, even if I only did so in my head; it just didn't seem right since she's been a regular for some time now. Plus, I thought maybe if I knew her name, I would learn something about her. Like maybe her name would open up some secret about herself that no one knew. She was a woman with a lot of secrets – I knew that much.

Her lips pulled up into a small smile. "You can call me Evelyn," she said, then added "my friends call me Eve." She wasn't rude in saying it, but I indeed felt I had learned something other than her name by just having her give it to me. She put the people around her in two categories – her friends and everyone else. I was in the "everyone else" category.

I glanced around to make sure everyone at my tables were alright before I asked my next question. "Are you staying in Bon Temps?" I had to assume that she was, because she came in a couple nights a week. It was a pretty long drive to get here otherwise. Then again, maybe she flew. I wasn't quite sure what the travel timing was when you were airborne.

Her smile remained in place. "For a while," she answered, and I knew that I was being evaded. She wasn't going to give me direct answers, and I should never have expected her too. Vampires were never very sharing to begin with. Pair that with the fact that we didn't even know each other, so it was only natural that she wouldn't share personal information with me. Yet she seemed so offbeat when it came to the other vampires I knew that I just couldn't help but want to know more about her. I wanted to know who she was, why she was here, and why she was different.

"If you need anything else, just flag me down," I said, moving off to handle some other customers. I told myself that I wasn't exactly getting involved with vampires again – just one vampire. A vampire named Evelyn who was very strange. I wasn't talking to Bill, Jessica, or Eric. I was just going to find out what made Evelyn dance to a different beat compared to other vampires, and then I could go on with life. The fact that I had to assure myself of this seemed to also spell out I was walking hand in hand with ignorance. I was okay with that for now.

Jason sauntered into the bar a little while later. He gave the place a quick scan as always, but he didn't seem to be scouting this time around. Normally my brother would be on the prowl for some woman to take home, and by "prowl" I meant move his little finger. My handsome brother never had to work hard for the girls to be all over him, which I personally had never really understood. My brother was a good man with a lot of problems, a charming demeanor, and intelligence that rivaled a cow. Still, I loved him, and he loved me. That was all that really mattered in the end.

He wrapped me in a loose one-armed hug and gave his usual greeting. "Hey, sis. Can I get a beer and a burger?"

"Sure," I answered, then narrowed my eyes slightly at him. "Something's different about you."

He looked startled, and for a second thought that I was reading his mind. I wasn't, but when I did take a peek all I saw were purposely-jumbled thoughts about nothing in particular. I was astonished. Jason was trying to block me out of his mind. He had never liked me being able to read minds, but he always figured there was nothing he could do about it. He really wanted to keep something from me, which just provoked my curiosity and suspicion. "You're not in trouble again, are you Jason?" I asked, pulling out of his mind. I couldn't really find anything other than something about a woman named Crystal, and an extremely annoying song he kept playing over and over in his mind to distract himself from whatever was taking up his thoughts. I would have to look again when his guard was down. Blind-siding my brother like that made me feel bad, but I wanted to make sure he was okay. Jason attracted just as much trouble as he did women.

"No, no, I'm fine," he assured me, grinning as if to prove it. He seemed relieved that I didn't know what he was hiding. "I'm just, uh, trying to take things slow an' all. You know, Tara still won't talk to me." He looked genuinely hurt over that fact. Jason and Tara had an odd relationship – one that I definitely didn't want to look anymore into than I had too. After she found out that Jason killed Eggs, she had withdrawn from just about everyone. Even I hadn't talked to her in a while, but I thought that was because of my association with vampires and the fact I was the sister of the man who killed her lover. I wanted to give her time, but there was no telling just how much of it she would need before she started talking to me again. And who knew how she felt about Jason now. That might be irreparable.

I left my brother so he could sit with his friends at the bar and I wrote his order on a ticket and handed it to Lafayette. I had noticed that he had been more chipper than usual lately, even though he was normally a happy person. Life was hard for him though, being flamboyantly gay as well as the color of his skin, but he fought the world tooth and nail. I admired that about him. I gave him a smile as I handed the ticket over, and he returned one. "You're a crazy girl, Sook," he said, shaking his head and turning back to the grill.

The rest of my shift was busy. Somewhere in all the hustle and bustle, I noticed that Evelyn had left. I felt almost disappointed, and wished I had talked to her a bit more. Maybe I was addicted to vampires like someone to cocaine, and right now I was going through withdrawals. Maybe I was just desperate to communicate with a member of the undead besides Jessica, who I rarely saw anyway. I did, after all, miss the silence a vampire's mind produced much more than I had ever anticipated. It could be my brain tricking me into believing that Evelyn was much more than just a regular vampire, simply so I could have the quiet again. But maybe she was more, and I just had a natural curiosity to find out exactly what that was.

When it was time to go home, I was exhausted. My feet were used to the stress of being a waitress, but they still felt a bit sore. I helped Sam close up, doing all the chores of the waitresses on the night shift as quickly as possible so I could get out of there. My body was already ready for bed, and my mind as well. I shouted a goodbye to Sam as I walked out the back door, digging my car keys out of my pocket. I was in the process of unlocking my car when I picked up a brain pattern somewhere behind me, and I whirled around.

At first I didn't recognize him. He was a tall man, boyishly handsome with black hair. His eyes were equally as dark, to the point where I knew it was unnatural. Or supernatural, rather, because he certainly wasn't all the way human. He was very muscular, his biceps stretching the fabric of his t-shirt. My first thought was steroids. He was looking at me like he was analyzing me, as if I were some sort of science project or math problem. I took a step back, my bottom hitting the driver's side door of my car. It was the man who had been in the bar six months ago watching me. He hadn't been back since that night, but I didn't forget him. He had made me paranoid for quite some time, and just one I started to relax and accept that he was just passing through with no real interest in me whatsoever, he pops up in the back parking lot of Merlotte's. Wonderful.

"Can I help you?" I asked, despite my instincts screaming at me to call for Sam or get in my car and drive away as quickly as possible. This man wasn't something I've ever come across before – a member of the supernatural I didn't know about. At this point in time I had kind of been thinking I'd seen it all. Obviously I was wrong. Just being in the man's presence gave me goose bumps. The instincts trying to warn me were the same ones that I assumed other people had about vampires – to stay away, to repel, resist, whatever. Every part of my body was telling me that this whatever-he-was was up to no good, and that I needed to get away right now. But judging from my run ins with other supernatural creatures, I could assume that he was faster and stronger than me. So I was basically stuck. It was funny how far humans had fallen down the food chain since this world has been opened up to me. I kind of missed being ignorant to it all right about now.

"I need you to come with me," he said definitively. I could tell that he wasn't giving me a choice in the matter. The way he said it kind of reminded me of Arnold's famous movie line "come with me if you want to live." Only I would be dying in this case. Actually, I was fairly sure that every option I could exercise right now resulted in me dying. Given this bleak outlook, I decided to be angry instead of scared or depressed.

"Why would I go with you? I don't even know you. And I sure don't appreciate you trying to sneak up on me in the dark!" I snapped, crossing my arms over my chest. "So, who are you?" I felt I was obligated to know what to call the man that was in the process of kidnapping me. Maybe I could stall long enough for Sam to notice I was in trouble and he could save me. I didn't know how he would fair against this mystery man, though. Sam was strong, but not stronger than a Were or Vampire, and maybe not stronger than this man. I found myself wishing that Bill was with me, or Eric. Hell, at this point I'd even take Pam. Anyone who was stronger than me and had a big enough mean streak to beat this guy to a pulp was good enough for me. Vampires were never there when you really needed them.

He stared at me for a minute, and I translated his expression as amusement. Apparently I was pretty funny, at least to him. I scowled, waiting impatiently for him to answer because I wasn't quite sure what else I could do. "I am Luke," he said finally, his tone flat. "I'm to deliver you to someone who would like to speak with you." The edges of his mouth tugged downward slightly. "They would be very angry if I am late."

I could have replied to that, argued with him a bit more about the inconveniences my kidnapping presented to him for the sake of stalling. But really, I just didn't see the point. I did not want to go to whoever he was to "deliver" me too. Luke was just going to have to get in trouble for being late, because I wanted to fight every inch of the way. I yanked open my car door, only managing to get one leg in before he was grabbing my arm, pulling me back out. I hung on to whatever I could grab – the seat, steering wheel, etc. – but he was too strong. Coming out of the car rather ungracefully, I turned so I could start kicking, punching, and biting. I was not going to go willingly, and I planned on causing Luke as much trouble as possible, dammit.

He only managed to drag me a few feet when a hand was suddenly fastened around his wrist, and he howled in pain. He let me go instantly, sending me stumbling backwards due to the fact I had been pulling so hard against him. I fell on my bottom in the dirt, and I knew I could count on a bruise being there in the morning. Feeling a bit confused, I stared at a pair of legs covered in dark cotton pants that were in between me and Luke. Raising my gaze, my eyebrows perked up in surprise.

Out of all the possible saviors that I had hoped would come to my aid, they hadn't been on the list.


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Thanks everyone for the reviews and favorite story additions. I'm glad you guys are enjoying it. I would love to have more of both! Get ready for more of the main characters to become involved in the next chapter!**

"I believe that Sookie made it very clear she doesn't want to go with you," Evelyn said, her hand still wrapped around Luke's wrist. Luke was on his knees now, clawing pathetically at the vampire's arm to try and make her let go. He had no such luck, and eventually he just resorted to whimpering. She released him then, moving to stand not quite in front of me, but obviously making herself a barrier. For once, I didn't question it and simply kept my mouth shut. It was best that I stayed out of this.

"The vampire who sent me is very powerful – an authoritative figure in your world," Luke said, breathing heavily. He nursed his wrist with his other hand and glared at Evelyn. "He'll kill you for disobeying."

I felt like screaming. I should have guessed that vampires had something to do with this. They had thrown me for a loop by sending the whatever-he-was, and for a second I thought that maybe something else was life threatening to me. How silly of me to think so. It was _always_ the vampires. Although, hearing the words "authoritative figure" made me think of Russell. He had been the King of something, hadn't he? Mississippi, I thought. But he couldn't still have that kind of power, could he? Not after what he did on live television and potentially throwing the vampires back years when it came to their hope for equal rights? My next thought went to the Queen of Louisiana. I had never met her, but had heard her name mentioned in passing. I thought it might have been my cousin Hadley who said something about her to me.

"I can't say that I'm all that worried about it," Evelyn replied simply. "So I think it would just be better for you to return to this _authoritative figure_ and tell him that unforeseeable circumstances caused you not to complete your mission." She was being tactful, as if Luke was a dear friend of hers and she was telling him it was okay to blame her for the missing alcohol from his parents' secret stash when it was really him who drank it all. Luke and I both stared at her stupidly.

After a minute Luke seemed to regain composure. I imagined that he was now debating the chances of him being able to defeat Evelyn and make off with me at the same time. He appeared to be willing to try it, because he straightened his back and lifted his chin defiantly. "No," he said. "I take her now."

His hands were hanging down at his sides. I thought he was holding something, and I squinted my eyes a bit. At first I figured he was holding a lighter and had ignited the flame. But as the flame grew larger and larger, now being molded by both of his hands, I knew there was no lighter. He had created the flame, and he was in control of it. I looked from the man with the giant fireball to Evelyn. Her facial expression hadn't changed one bit. I guess that this was a normal sight for her.

"I am over three thousand years old. It would be a great regret to have to kill you, but Sookie will not be going anywhere she does not wish to go. Please return to your master with the story I have given you." She seemed sincere, and indeed regretful, in talking about killing Luke. I thought about what a conversation between her and Eric, or Pam, would be like. I was sure that the two other vampires would hate her instantly. Well, if Eric was even alive. That was another problem I didn't want to deal with at the moment.

Luke seemed to be rethinking his priorities. It took him a minute, but after a while he nodded. "Fine," he said, collapsing the fireball with his hands. He took a step back, and sneered at us. "But we'll be back for her."

"For your sake I hope not."

He didn't say anything else. He walked away, melting into the darkness. All supes must have impressive exits. I was part fairy and overall about as impressive as a weed. Obviously whatever fairy blood was in me, it wasn't the blood that made me have movie scene type entrances and exits. Nope, all I got was delicious blood and a bodily flashlight in my hand that only worked when I least expected it too. And sometimes I even got to visit the magical fairy land and dance with the other fairies. What a great effing time that was.

I was also beginning to realize that stressful situations had an odd effect on my thought processes.

Breaking out of my thoughts, I noticed that Evelyn was staring at me. She wasn't waiting for me to say anything, necessarily, but she was obviously expecting it. There were a million things I knew I had to ask her, but somehow the only sentence I was capable of forming was "you are very pacifistic for a vampire."

Evelyn laughed softly. It wasn't often that you heard a vampire laugh. She stared at me for a while after that, which I believe is the first time she's ever really looked at me. She seemed to be examining me, and it wasn't in either of the ways that I was used to being looked at by vampires. She wasn't looking at me with lust because of my looks, or because of my blood. I wasn't ever really comfortable with being stared at though, and after a second I squirmed under her inspection. She looked away then. "I'm sorry," she said, her voice so quiet I struggled to hear it. "I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. It's just that after living for as long as I have, not much is a mystery to me anymore. You, however, are the biggest mystery I have ever come across."

"I could say the same about you," I said instantly, irritated. I frowned and then quickly backpedaled. "Okay, I don't mean to sound unappreciative. Thanks for getting rid of him for me." My eyebrows furrowed together, and I finally remembered the questions that I should be asking at this point. "Do you know him? What is he? Why was he here for me? Who is the authoritative figure he was talking about?" I would have asked more, but Evelyn raised a hand to quiet me. I promptly shut my mouth with a snap.

She took a moment to gather her thoughts, and I didn't interrupt. Vampires weren't always the fastest moving things out there. Sometimes they took some mental downtime as a sort of refresher. And given all the memories some of them had, I was sure that gathering thoughts wasn't always the quickest process for them. "He's a demon. Not a very powerful one, which means that the ones who want you have seriously underestimated you. That's a shame." She paused for a little bit longer. "The authority he speaks of has no bearing on me. I do not follow orders." She said it with such conviction that I had to believe her. She glanced around, and then put a hand on my shoulder. "We should go. I think you should be okay for tonight, but I would feel better if you let me accompany you home."

A vampire asking my permission – this was just a day full of surprises. And she didn't even go through a laundry list of reasons why it was beneficial to _me_ to have her as protection. Well, other than the fact that I was now apparently something to be had by demons. But she seemed genuinely concerned about me. Not that others hadn't expressed it for me before, but those were the people – beings – that I could no longer trust. I wasn't even sure that I could trust Evelyn, but thus far I had no reason not to.

We got in my car, and I pulled out of the parking lot. We were silent for a while, and I didn't think I was being a very good hostess. "So," I said, tapping my fingers rhythmically on the steering wheel. "What really brings you to Bon Temps?" I thought it was safe to assume that she was here for much more than just the scenery.

"I'm here to protect you, Sookie," she said, looking around my car as if she's never seen such a thing in her life. She ran her hand along the dashboard, and then laughed in delight. "I haven't been in a car for years!'

I stared at her for much longer than was really safe for anyone's eyes to be off the road. Returning to my duty of driving, I couldn't keep the smile off my face. I've never seen a vampire express so much happiness before. It temporarily distracted me from the fact that I had almost been kidnapped and that I apparently had a brand new protector whom I've never even met before. "Did someone send you to protect me?" I asked quizzically. "Did Bill send you?" He knew that he wasn't on my favorite list at the moment, so it wouldn't be unlike him to ask a favor of one of his fanged fellows just so someone was looking after me. If that were the case, I supposed that I would have to thank him.

"Compton?" She snorted in clear disgust. "No. You and I had a mutual acquaintance and I owe it to them to look after you. Plus, it seems that everyone else who has tried to protect you has failed quite miserably at it." A deaf person could have heard the contempt in her voice. That interested me, and there was much more that I wanted to ask, but the exhaustion that had set in towards the end of my shift returned with a vengeance now. My eyes grew heavy, and I was thankful that there was only a short distance left to my house.

I pulled around back when I arrived home, turning my car off and sitting uncomfortably. I didn't know what to do now. Should I invite Evelyn in? I didn't have any True Blood in the house since no vampires have visited recently. I still did have doubts about whether Evelyn was really here to help me or not. She sure was convincing, but vampires were generally good at manipulation. I had been a victim of it for far too long to fall for it again. Gran would have had a fit if she knew I was debating not even letting a guest in, let alone someone who probably had saved my life. But I had to protect myself, and I didn't want unknown vampires having access to my house - even ones who seemed to actually be capable of smiling more than once a century.

Evelyn started to get out of the car. "I'll check your house for you," she said. I started to open my mouth to protest, but she was already gone. I stumbled out, running up to my back porch. The door was still locked, and Evelyn was nowhere to be seen. I looked around helplessly, having half a mind to just go inside my house and call it a night. But I didn't know where the cheery vampire had gone off too – she could be inside waiting for me for all I knew. She had said that she doesn't obey vampire authority, so maybe the rules of a regular vampire didn't apply to her. She might be able to just go into houses without invitation. That was a scary thought.

Before I could let myself get too carried away, however, she swung onto my porch. She landed on her feet of course, and she straightened out her ruffled outfit. "I looked inside every window and listened for quite some time to see if I sensed another presence," she explained, and I sighed in relief. She had never gone inside the house. "You're fine. No one is there." She bowed to me, her hair falling over her shoulders and face. "I'll leave you now so you can rest." She was down the porch steps in less than a second.

"Thank you," I sputtered. She was half way across the yard by the time I had spoken, and she stopped to face me. I ran a hand through my hair nervously. "For looking out for me and everything. I appreciate it."

It was too dark to see her expression. "Don't thank me yet, Sookie. This battle of ours has only just begun." Then she was gone.

Well, if any words were capable of deflating the optimism I originally had, those were the ones. The fact that she referred to my – our - issue as a battle was troubling. Mostly because in battles, people tended to die.


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Okay, so the next two chapters are going to be a little weird in means of dividing them up. At first I had them as one, but then decided it would be way too long if I left them like that. And since I know some of you are curious, more information on Evelyn will be coming within the next few chapters, promise! Keep reviewing guys! I love to read your thoughts on the story.**

**Oh, and to sj61 – this isn't my first fanfic ever, but it's the first one I've done in a while. I'm glad you like it. :) **

I had the next two nights off. I imagined it was because Jessica was definitely working the next two nights, and Sam tried to keep us separated as much as possible. He didn't know why I suddenly wanted to get away from vampires, but he respected my decision. I think a part of him approved of it. He had never really liked me consorting with vampires. So he was probably doing his best to keep me as far away from the fanged variety as possible so I didn't change my mind. Well, nice try Sam, but it was a little too late for that. After last night, it seemed inevitable that I would soon be spiraling back into a world full of vampires, werewolves, and just supes in general.

Evelyn didn't come for those two nights. Curled up on my couch with my latest check out from the library, I stared blankly at the page. She said she was there to protect me, but I wasn't quite sure how she could do that when she wasn't even around. Why did demons want me, anyway? In my tired mental stupor last night I hadn't pushed the vampire on answering the questions for me. She had been vague about the whole thing. How very vampire like of her, I thought grimly to myself. I also didn't have any way to contact her. She could have skipped town and I wouldn't know any better. Several times I had scanned the area around my house with my mind, searching for any sort of sign that someone was out there watching over me – or just plan watching me. There was none, as far as I could tell, which was relieving and mildly upsetting at the same time.

I tried to keep myself from worrying too much. I stayed busy with my extra days, doing chores around the house as well as in town. I had spent some time in Gran's gardens because I just didn't have the heart to let them go. My Grandmother had adored those gardens, and I thought of them as a pleasant memory of her. It was important to me to use my limited gardening knowledge to keep them alive. I bought groceries in town, got new books from the library, and even rented a movie. I spent a little bit of time sunbathing, although a cold front had been moving through and I hadn't been able to stay out as long as I normally did. Boy did I love the sun though. Sunbathing was a great relaxation technique for me, and by golly it sure did make me feel better. All the worries about my problems had evaporated with the sunlight on my skin, and I was able to go for a few hours afterward without thinking about them. Unfortunately they had started to creep back into my mind, starting with Evelyn's absence, and now it was impossible for me to even concentrate on my book. I sighed and set it down on the coffee table. Well so much for that.

I rubbed my temples gently, wishing I could massage thoughts out of my brain. I didn't want to think about Bill and his screwed up sense of heroism. I didn't want to think about the demon Luke, and ponder what exactly he wanted with me. I didn't want to think about whom he could possibly work for; who could possibly want me now? Russell Edgington could be his "master", since the vampire king had a deep interest in me. I figured that he would have come himself though, like he did the last time. Granted, he did send a couple of werewolves under his command to try and get me first, but when they proved to be unsuccessful I guess he just figured he'd try it himself. He might be a bit busy at the moment though, considering that he had pissed off the entire vampire community – or at least the ones who wanted to mainstream. Frowning to myself, I felt a little pang in my heart. There were other reasons he might be too busy to come snatch me himself.

The memory of being bitten by Russell was something that my mind tried to lock away – a painful experience that I subconsciously wanted to protect myself from. Still, from time to time it broke out of its cage and sneak attacked me, and I couldn't help but mull over it time and time again. This was mostly because I still had no real answers for what happened. Sure, Bill had desperately tried to justify his actions to me in Fangtasia, saying that he was helping Eric set up Russell to get killed. But Bill was not my issue in that whole affair, or not my major one. I had known before the incident at Fangtasia that Bill was slowly proving to me that I couldn't trust him. Fangtasia had just been the final straw with me. I accepted that Bill could no longer be the big part of my life that I wanted to be, so it wasn't Bill that I was thinking about.

I remember Russell telling him to bite first – probably to make sure my blood wasn't poisoned or something. I remember the regret in his eyes, the hesitance. It was his failure to act that I guess made Russell a bit impatient. Eric bit my neck then, stroking my hair. In hindsight, I identified the movement as an attempt to soothe me. He hadn't wanted to do it, but he did. Then he braved the sunlight, drawing out Russell and trying to kill him with the vampire's natural enemy. He had sacrificed himself to kill Russell – a man who would have undoubtedly killed me if he hadn't been manipulated. And now Eric was somewhere with the Mississippi King right now, if he hadn't already met the "true death". I was filled with a variety of emotions, the strongest one being confusion. I tried to understand his actions; his reasons behind them, but I didn't have a solid answer. I realized that was what I needed – an answer.

Standing up, I went into my bedroom and changed out of my sweats. I slipped into a pair of jeans and the first t-shirt I could find. Oddly enough, that t-shirt just so happened to be the Fangtasia one I had gotten some time back. I didn't spend time contemplating the chances of that, and finished putting on a bit of makeup. Walking out with a purpose, I grabbed my car keys and locked the house behind me.

I was thankful that no cops were on the roads I was driving on. At the speed I was going, I deserved to get pulled over. In my mind it was justified, but I was sure my reasons wouldn't impress any officer. I was nervous for the whole drive, tapping on the brakes whenever I saw a car outline looking anything like that of a cop car. As soon as my fear was put to rest, I would return my foot to the gas pedal.

I made it to Shreveport in record time. I said a silent apology to God for breaking the law. I was surprised to see the parking lot of Fangtasia full. I don't know what else I was expecting, really. I guess I just thought of the vampire bar being an impossibility without Eric.

Pam was at the front door, dressed in a black leather costume. She was doing her usual job – checking the IDs of humans and acting like the stereotypical bloodsucker in the process. The tourists and fang bangers alike loved the whole spectacle, apparently. I didn't really understand it myself.

As I sheepishly inched to the front of the line, Pam spotted me. I almost turned around and left when I saw the look on her face. She definitely did not look happy to see me. "Did Eric call you?" she asked me angrily. Before I could even think of an answer, she rambled on. "I told him it was too soon to see you. He needs to get stronger first. It was foolish of him to summon you like this. He's risking his own life, as well as yours." Her concern for my life was an afterthought and not wholly meaningful.

I felt like she had just slammed me upside the head with a baseball bat. I held up hands up in a motion to keep her from speaking further. "Whoa, whoa, Pam," I said. I stared at her incredulously. "Eric didn't call me."

She gave me a bewildered look. "Then why are you here?" she asked, genuinely curious. She ignored the line of people waiting for admission, and I could tell from their thoughts that they were both interested and annoyed by our conversation. None of them dared to complain though.

For a second I had to scrounge my thoughts to remember why I _was_ there. "Um, I came to ask if there was any news about him – Eric," I said. As if she thought I were talking about anyone else. "He's here? Eric's back? Why didn't anyone tell me?" Even if I was in a bit of a daze, I still managed to be irritated.

Pam's eyes narrowed. "He came back last night," she said, shushing any annoyance I had about not being informed. "He had been asleep in some sort of dungeon Russell had been torturing him in. When he awakened, the silver chains he had been bound with were cut. There was no one watching him, so he managed to sneak away." Talking about Eric's escape made her very happy. She was glad to have her master back. The bond between a maker and his child was one that I (hopefully) would never truly understand, but I knew that it was powerful. And whether they wanted to admit it or not, love played a part in it.

"Is he here?" I asked. I didn't really know much about Eric, but whenever I was summoned (a.k.a forced) to see him, it had always been at Fangtasia. What did Eric do in his spare time anyway? My mind automatically flickered to the time I had barged into the basement of the bar to see him erm, _having relations_ with Yvette. That was the first time I had seen Eric completely in the nude. It was not a sight that I'd soon forget.

Pam seemed to be deciding whether it was a good idea for me to see him or not. "Yes," she said finally. She motioned for me to follow her and she made her way to the inside of the bar. The people in line had started groaning and whispering complaints, but a single look from Pam quickly silenced them. Once we were inside, she made a motion to some vampire standing nearby. He went outside, presumably to take her place as the admittance committee. "This isn't a good idea, but he would be extremely aggravated with me if I shooed you away when you came on your own free will." She sighed dramatically.

I had assumed that Eric would be replaced on his throne, looking very much like a King (or a God), gazing out over the variety of people that made their way into his bar every night. But the throne was empty. I was filled with a strong sense of unease then. I was afraid of where exactly Pam was going to take me for a minute, until she knocked on one of the doors towards the back of the bar. It was Eric's office.

She listened and then held up a hand to me. "Stay," she ordered, as if she were speaking to a puppy she was training. I obeyed, and when Pam slipped through the door, I wondered if she was an animal person. Somehow I didn't think so.

She was only in there a minute before the door opened again, and she reemerged. "You can go in now," she told me. Another girl had exited with her, one that wasn't exactly dressed and was holding a towel to her neck. It hadn't taken Eric long to return to his usual routine.

I stayed where I was for a second after Pam and Eric's little companion had gone, staring at the door that was still slightly ajar. Now that I was there and now knew that Eric was more or less alive and well, I reconsidered this whole visit. Despite everything, I never wanted Eric to be dead. I was still extremely mad at him and would probably bash his head in with a rock if I knew it would do me any good, but death was something I would never wish on him. Part of me knew that was exactly what I should want – I shouldn't give a hell about his wellbeing. I shouldn't care for him in the way that I knew I did. He had some effect on me that infuriated me and that I blamed completely on the blood bond he forced me into. Deep down, I knew better. But there was no way I was going to admit that to anyone – most of all Eric.

Composing myself, I walked through the door. His office was large, and neat. The walls had pictures of famous vampires on them, like out in the bar. There was a filing cabinet in the corner, and a couch on the opposite wall. Behind the desk there was a small refrigerator. And then there was the desk itself. The desk with various things on top of it, like papers and a lamp. It was a desk that had a big, blonde Viking vampire sitting behind it. The Viking was staring at me with those intense, beautiful eyes of his.

I was trying not to look at him, or at least not stare. I failed miserably. Eric was still gorgeous, his blonde hair falling around his face in a way that made him look like he was a model posing. He wasn't even trying, of course. His giant body was fitted with a white button-up shirt that wasn't buttoned all the way and jeans. He was leaning back in his chair casually, watching me just as intently as I was him. "Eric," I said, struggling to form words. I rubbed my lips together nervously. "You look like crap." I instantly felt bad for saying it, but after getting over the literal shock I felt from how damn attractive he managed to be, I noticed that he wasn't completely himself. He had the look of someone who was recovering from the flu – still a bit sickly and tired. For a vampire, that was considered rough shape. I didn't want to know what he looked like when he escaped last night.

He didn't smile, just kept looking at me. "Your presence is always a pleasure Ms. Stackhouse," he said sarcastically, and then I watched his eyes move from my face to the rest of me. "I appreciate the free advertisement, but that shirt doesn't show off your assets at all." Eric might not be smiling, but I gave a small one. In a not very subtle manner, he was telling me that I also looked less of a vision than usual. That Eric. What a charmer.

A silence fell between us then. We didn't stop looking at each other. Both of us seemed to be at a loss for what to say. I hadn't exactly anticipated him being here. If I had known that, I would have given this whole trip a bit more thought. Or maybe I wouldn't have. I wasn't really sure what I would do about anything relating to Mr. Northman at the moment.

After a while, I figured I might as well talk first. I was the one who had come uninvited, after all. I started with a lame conversation opener. "Pam said you escaped from Russell."

His expression didn't change. "For now," he said, giving me an ominous feeling. "He'll come for me again, eventually." Eric obviously wasn't relying on optimism. That was something I had always respected about Eric, no matter what other problems I had with his personality. He had a strong hold on reality, and didn't bother sugarcoating anything.

"Why didn't he kill you?" I asked, aware that I wasn't exactly making this a pleasant conversation for him. But my curiosity was too persistent to ignore. I had never really considered the possibility that Russell would keep Eric alive for more than half a year. These past six months weren't exactly easy for me, but they must have been a nightmare for Eric.

"I took the one thing that he loved more than anything in the world away from him," Eric explained. "He wanted me to suffer for as long as possible, although I think he was getting rather bored by the time I escaped. I was lucky." He looked thoughtful.

"Who cut the chains?" I asked, knowing that I was only going to keep getting Eric's cooperation for a little bit longer. He'd get sick of my questions eventually and simply stop answering them or change the subject.

"I have no idea." That really bothered him. Someone had saved him, and he had no idea who it was. He owed someone, somewhere, a favor. Eric was the one who enjoyed being owed favors, not the other way around. He also liked to be in control – to know more than the other guy. Right about now I think it was safe to say that the Viking was absolutely clueless about what was going on. "Why'd you come, Sookie?" he asked me, and I tensed up a bit.

"I came to talk to Pam – to ask her how we could get you back, whether she knew if you were even alive." There was no point in lying. Eric had been truthful with me, and I had to return the favor.

He was in front of me before my eyes could even catch the movement. I gasped, instinctively moving backward. Eric moved with me, so there was no distance gained between us. He towered over me, looking down at me with a smoldering gaze that practically made me melt. "Why?" he asked, his voice a whisper. I noticed for the first time that his shirt wasn't just not buttoned up all the way - it wasn't buttoned at all. The white fabric seemed to be framing his perfect abs in the most teasing way possible, drawing my eyes from his pecs and abs to the line of blonde hair going south from his naval.

Oh, Lord.


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: So I just watched the TB finale. I don't want to spoil it for anyone who has yet to see it, but was anyone else disappointed with it? Please DO NOT post spoilers in your reviews, we have to be courteous to others. On another note, thank you for the supportive reviews! I love them so make sure you keep them coming!**

I squirmed a bit. My chest was just barely touching his, and I had a strong sense of déjà vu. We had been this close when he had kissed me, when we had kissed _each other_. Bill was an excellent kisser, but I had to admit there was no comparison with Eric. If there were a competition for kissing, Eric would definitely win. I'm sure he could hear my heart beat speeding up, but I prayed he didn't think it was on his account.

"Er," was all I managed to get out at first. If my thoughts had been incoherent before, they were a complete mess now. "Did you always plan-" I stopped, clearing my throat because my voice was hoarse. "Did you always plan on giving me to Russell, and just so happened to work this whole thing out so I didn't have to get hurt?" I asked, then decided that I wasn't being specific enough. I tried again. "Was saving my life always part of the plan, or did it just so happen to work out this way?" I stared at his throat because I didn't want to look at his face to see his reaction.

He didn't say anything. After a couple of moments, I started to get really nervous. I shifted my weight from one foot to the other. Then Eric put both of his hands on my shoulders. "Stop fidgeting," he said, and I stole a glance at his face. The way I interpreted his expression was conflicted. His right hand trailed up from my shoulder to my face, and he stroked my cheek with his thumb. I was stock still as he grazed his thumb over my jaw line, and then over my mouth. I parted my lips to take in a breath, and right afterward Eric pressed his lips against my own.

I think he just meant to make it a quick peck, but the intensity quickly grew. One of his arms was wrapped tightly around my waist, holding me against him while his other hand was tangled in my hair. His tongue forced my lips apart. At some point in time my hands betrayed me and started to explore Eric's uncovered torso, starting with his chest. The part of me that was pissed off at Eric was being completely ignored at the moment, and I didn't mind it. But the other part of me, the part that wanted an answer, was gnawing at me like a pit bull with a bone. I disengaged my mouth from his. He allowed this, but the arm around my waist remained in place like a vice grip. I was breathing a lot heavier, and he looked disheveled.

"Eric," I said weakly, still trying to regain some of the very little composure I had left. What could I say? I had gone from a pretty amazing sex life with Bill to a complete dry season for six months. My body was ready for the dry season to be over. "That wasn't an answer," I told him. I pushed against him slightly, but he didn't give way any. I was still just as close to him as I had been before we started swapping spit, and at this point in time my neglected libido was chomping at the bit. Basically, this was not a safe position for me to be in, and I was pretty darn sure Eric was very well aware of that.

His mouth might have left mine alone, but it was still exploring. His lips were studying my neck and collarbone. "Yes," he said, "it is." He stopped after a moment, standing full height and looking down at me. "Your life is very important, Sookie. _You_ are very important. It would be stupid on my part to let anything happen to you." He cupped both palms around my face. "Even if you make it rather difficult, I'm going to protect you. Even if it means I have to hurt you in the process." Well, that didn't make a lick of sense to me, but it seemed to have been an effort for him to say it, so I let it be for now.

The mention of protecting me rang a little bell in my head. "Do you know anything about demons?" I asked him before he decided to pick back up where he left off with that very talented mouth of his.

My question seemed to do the trick, because he suddenly looked much more interested in what I was saying. "They're not Satan's minions from hell, despite the stories. Not the most powerful things out there but most of us tend to steer clear of confrontation with them because all of them are pyrokinetic." By "us" he meant vampires. Fire had much the same effect on vampires as the sun – they went up like a match. "Why?"

"Well, I had one named Luke try and kidnap me the other day. The day before your escape," I clarified, looking up at him. His expression was once again indeterminable.

"Obviously he failed," he said, an observation and a question at the same time. Apparently he didn't have any faith in my capabilities of fending off demons. He was right on with that.

"Ah, someone helped me out," I said evasively. I could tell him about Evelyn and how she basically saved my butt, but something told me that I shouldn't mention her. There was really no reason why I shouldn't. Eric might even know her. If he did, I could maybe find out a thing or two about her. It all sounded like a good plan, but I still kept my mouth shut. I didn't even know if I would ever see her again. If I didn't, there was really no point in mentioning her. I decided that no harm would come from keeping her a secret a little while longer.

Of course, Eric liked to have details. "Who?" he demanded, loosening his grip on me.

I took the opportunity to sneak away from him and put some distance between us. "Just a random vampire who was passing through," I lied, shrugging my shoulders. I smiled. "Nobody important." I knew that Eric knew I was lying. And I knew he wanted to know why. But he wasn't going to call me out on it yet. Yet was the key word.

I decided it was time to get out of there before Eric started to ask too many questions, and before I did something I would more than likely regret. I moved towards his office door. "Well, I should be going now," I said anxiously, smoothing out my unwrinkled t-shirt. As I went for the doorknob, Eric cut me off again. That vampire speed of his was really working against me tonight. I sighed impatiently. "Eric, I'm glad you're alive, but I have to go. I've got to work tomorrow."

He planted a kiss on my forehead, and I was thankful it wasn't on the lips. I didn't know if I could take another kissing session with him. My hormones were already out of whack, and they were working very hard with my body to go against my morals and overall concerns about anything between Eric and I being physical. He had worn down on my resistance, and I needed to rebuild it before he had the opportunity to try anything again.

"You'll need to be protected. Obviously someone else has taken an interest in you. I will see you soon, lover," he promised, and took a step back from me.

I opened my mouth to protest the pet name, then decided against it. So long as I could get myself out of Eric's office with a small amount of dignity, I would take it. God only knows what would happen if I stayed in there any longer. I hurried out, biding a quick goodbye to Pam, who had returned to the entrance of the bar.

I drove home much slower than I had on the way to the bar. I tried to contemplate everything on the way back. Eric basically said he had always just wanted to protect me, and if I had to go through a few levels of hell in the process, then tough. I wasn't sure whether to be flattered or upset. It seemed that there were better ways to protect me than the way he was going about it. Somewhere in all the chaos of thoughts speeding through my mine was Bill, who I still had yet to even deal with. And then there was Evelyn; the mystery vampire who seemed to hate violence yet acted as Super Woman in my case. She seemed to be doing an okay job of keeping me safe, and she didn't even have to kill anybody or hurt me in the process. Who knew how long her peaceful persuasion would be enough to keep the danger at bay, though. It didn't seem like it could go on forever.

Speaking of the peaceful vampire, she was standing on my porch when I got home. The outside light I had left on illuminated her face, and I caught a glance of it as I stepped out of my car. I would never forget the expression on her face for the rest of my life; it was the first time I had ever seen a vampire look scared.


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: Again, thanks for the reviews and story alerts everyone, and keep them coming!**

"Evelyn, what's the matter? What's wrong?" I asked, running up to her. The look on her face had me spooked, and I was expecting the worst. Maybe the demons had gone after someone I loved – like Sam, Tara, or Bill. My heart gave a little twinge as the last name crossed my mind.

"Where the _fuck_ have you been?" she asked me, almost shouting. It was the first time I had ever heard Evelyn curse.

"I-I went to go see a friend," I stammered, taken aback by her attitude. Mine kicked in right about then. "I do have those, you know. I can't just stay locked up waiting for you to come around and protect me."

She ignored my statements completely. "Your house was broken into," she told me, pointing to the door. It was completely ruined, practically thrown off its hinges. Anyone could have slipped into my house after that kind of damage was done.

"When? I was only gone for a few hours! And by who? Were you here when it happened?" I was kind of hoping that she had caught the culprits. Although I don't know what she would have done if she had – try to convince them that they should sit around and wait for me to get home because it was the right thing to do? I didn't see anyone who was willing to break into a house listening to the moral advice of a vampire.

Evelyn shook her head. "I came here to check on you in person. I didn't make my presence known to you the past couple of nights, but I was looking after you." _Liar,_ I thought. I wasn't exactly skilled when it came to my disability, but I would have picked up her lack of brain waves if she had been watching. "Your home was like this when I got here," she said, motioning to my house. "I couldn't go inside, but everything is in disarray. You weren't here. I thought I had failed – that they had taken you," she said. She was so upset her voice quivered a bit. So that's what she had been scared about – she thought something had happened to me and she hadn't been here to stop it. She glared at me. "Where did you go?"

"To see Eric Northman." Normally I would have been offended by the look she was giving me, but I felt oddly touched by her worrying over me. "He's a vampire that owns a bar in Shreveport. He's also the sheriff of this area." I paused. "It's been a while since I've seen him and I wanted to visit." I didn't feel like explaining how he had technically been held prisoner for the last half a year and how he had just managed to escape.

She raised her eyebrows in surprise. "I have heard of the Northman," she said. "I didn't realize you two were close."

That made me feel peculiar. "We're not, really," I told her, and then decided to check out the damage done to my house. I walked through the discombobulated doorway. She really hadn't been kidding. There were papers strewn everywhere and furniture disarranged. "Holy S," I breathed, looking around. I noticed that Evelyn wasn't behind me, and I turned around. She was standing just outside, giving me a look. "Oh," I said sheepishly, then waved her on in. "You can come in."

She stepped over the threshold and joined me. "This doesn't make sense," she said, studying everything like she was in a museum. "Tearing your house apart doesn't do anything for them. They must have done this just because they could." She sounded deeply annoyed. I could identify with her on that.

"It sure is an inconvenience to me though," I stated bitterly.

We went through my whole house, in every room, inspecting what the trespassers had done. As far as I could tell, they hadn't taken anything. They literally just messed my house up for me. It was going to take days to clean completely, maybe even more, depending on how much time I could devote to it. Sighing, I ran a hand through my hair and picked up a lamp that had been knocked off a table in the living room. After that, I moved a couple of my library books that had been tossed on my couch and sat down. I put my face in my hands and blinked away the stinging I felt in my eyes.

"It's possible that I could track them," Evelyn offered, still standing. "Demons don't exactly leave a strong scent like Weres or faeries, but it's possible. We could get an idea of where they're heading."

"Ask Bill to help," I said suddenly, looking up at her. I felt a bit selfish, only calling on him when I needed something, but I wanted this to stop. I wanted those freaking demons to go back to hell – or wherever they came from. And it seemed I was only going to get my wish was if I found out who they were working for. Tracking them would be a good start.

"I don't need Bill," she replied stubbornly. After a second of us staring at each other, she huffed and rolled her eyes. "Fine. But you're calling him." She spoke with the same disgust a teenage girl would have when talking about an ex boyfriend. I giggled a bit and went over the phone.

I was listening to the phone ringing when I remembered it's been six months since I've talked to Bill – since I've even seen him. I was in the process of hollering to Evelyn and telling her to suck it up and talk to him, but then I heard a cool voice in my ear say "Hello?"

"Oh, hi Bill!" I said, sounding as if it were just by chance that I had dialed his number.

"What's the matter, Sookie?" He asked immediately, and I could hear the tension in his voice. Well, so much for trying to make this sound like it was just a social chat. I had it in my mind that I would just explain very calmly to my former lover what happened, and ask politely for him to come over and help Evelyn track whoever did it. It would have gone over smoothly, and he wouldn't freak out and resort to his over protective tendencies.

I don't know what the hell I was thinking, but that's definitely not how it went.

I was listening to the dial tone the second the words "somebody broke in" left my lips, and I sighed in exasperation. "He'll be here in about thirty seconds," I called to Evelyn, going back into the living room where she was waiting. "I'll have to invite him in. I think it's better that you stay in here until I'm able to explain everything to him; I don't want him to attack you," I advised awkwardly. One thing I came to learn quickly was that vampires didn't like being told what to do, especially by humans. But at this point it was a good possibility that Bill would attack her upon sight. He had always been the type to attack first and ask questions later. Knowing that, I didn't want anything to happen to Evelyn. She said that she was over three thousand years old, which would make her older than both Eric and Bill combined, but she wasn't violent. It was like the vampire aggression wasn't even in her. I didn't know how many more times she could pull out the age card before someone decided to see if she was bluffing. In the worst-case scenario – she was.

She just raised an eyebrow at me and did nothing else.

Sure enough, we didn't have to wait long before there was a soft knock on my front door. I opened it without hesitation, although I noticed that I was much more nervous than I had been. Somebody breaks into my house for no apparent reason, and I brush it off. But my ex boyfriend comes over, and my palms start to sweat. A bit annoyed with myself, I opened the door, a grin tight on my face.

Bill stood there in all his glory, looking as good as ever. The feeling I was hit with upon seeing him was a lot stronger than I had anticipated, which just caused my smile to widen. At this point my mouth was starting to hurt, so I made my face muscles relax a bit. Bill was taking this all in, of course, with those dark eyes of his. He was wearing a light blue polo and khaki pants. I saw his eyes run over me slowly from head to toe, and then they worked their way back up again. I fidgeted.

"Bill," I greeted. I stood staring at him for a second until I remembered I had to invite him in. And that reminded me of Evelyn. "I already have a friend here to help out – a vampire," I said, desperately wishing he wouldn't have jumped into action so I could have told him this on the phone. His eyes narrowed a bit, and he looked at me accusingly. "No, it's not Eric," I snapped at him, knowing that was who he was thinking about. Well, I didn't _know_ in the way that I usually know; it was just easy to guess from the nasty little look on his face.

His face softened a bit. "I'm sorry, Sookie," he said, sounding sincere. He looked behind me for a second, probably searching to see who my visitor was if not the Viking, and then he looked back at me. "May I come in?"

I stepped aside, and nodded. "Please come in," I mumbled. I watched him step over the threshold, then shut the door behind him and led the way into my living room. Evelyn hadn't moved an inch, but I thought she looked a bit apprehensive.

"Bill, this is Evelyn. Evelyn, Bill," I introduced them, watching them both warily. The thought had occurred to me that they might have met before; I did remember Evelyn mentioning him, sounding less than impressed with my former boyfriend. It seemed that the feeling was mutual, because the two vampires stared at each other from opposite sides of the room. They looked like two giant, very dangerous dogs sizing each other up – trying to figure out just by sight and posture who was the dominant one out of the two of them. I guess that I wasn't even in the running. I could accept that, but I wasn't about to let them start fighting in my already destroyed house. "Hey now," I said, stepping in between the two of them. I rounded on Bill. "Bill Compton, I asked you to come here to help me out. Evelyn is a friend of mine and you best be nice to her." Getting in the middle of a vampire stand off probably wasn't the smartest thing I've ever done, but I really didn't have time for this.

Eve came up behind me, putting a gentle hand on my shoulder. "It's alright Sookie," she said. "Bill is just being protective – as he should be." She gave me a reassuring pat on the back before launching into a conversation with Bill about what happened. She filled him in quickly on the whole demons trying to kidnap me ordeal, which I was thankful for, because I wasn't really in the mood to tell him myself. Not sure what to do next, I simply started cleaning up the mess. I returned the cushions of the couch to their proper place, turned the table back on its legs, and put back other little knick-knacks where they belonged.

"Bill and I are going to see how far we can track the intruders," Evelyn said from right behind me, making me jump. She laughed, and I saw Bill standing a few feet off. He looked suspicious and perplexed, and pretty soon I was chuckling.

As soon as we had regained ourselves, I waved them off. "Go ahead. I'm just going to stay here and start cleaning this mess up." My amusement faded a bit when I really thought about the task I had in front of me. I thought my companions might be getting the easy job. Lucky me.

* * *

The edge of Evelyn's mouth twitched slightly as Sookie shooed them away. "Will you be alright?" she asked. It wouldn't take long to track the demon, especially since she had called the old boyfriend to assist, but it was getting to the point where Sookie just couldn't ever be left alone. She was going to have to make this little search party go quickly.

"I think I'm only in danger of being overwhelmed by this mess," she said, frowning a bit.

Eve smiled and nodded. The place _was_ a mess. She figured they trashed it in a bout of anger, because they certainly weren't looking for Sookie under the couch. But they would be back soon. Evelyn was running out of time. She never really liked demons in the first place; they dabbled too much in their own urban legends the humans made up about them, and in some cases believed it. They were more reliable than werewolves, though, and smarter. Things were going to get messy very quickly. And it all revolved around this woman – a part human part fairy who attracted danger like honey did bears. In all her years, she had never known anyone like Sookie Stackhouse. He had been right about her, after all. Eve had had doubts at first.

"Shall we, Mr. Compton?" she asked, glancing at Bill before making her way to the door. She had picked up the scent already, and she was sure that Compton did also. She could tell by the way he looked at Sookie that he cared very deeply for her, but Bill Compton was a conflicted vampire – more conflicted than normal. That seemed to be a trend for all vampires who came into contact with Miss Stackhouse. How interesting.

Evelyn walked slowly out of the house, even slower than most humans would go. She could hear Bill just behind her, walking just as slowly and patiently. She knew he was staring a hole into her back, but she didn't look over her shoulder. Bill Compton was such a fucking sour puss – really, how Sookie had ever fallen in love with a deadbeat like him was beyond her. To his credit, his supposed pledge of mainstreaming and nonviolence had almost succeeded. But his intentions had been all wrong. There was still hope for him, perhaps, but it could take centuries for Compton to figure that out for himself.

As soon as she stepped in the tree line and out of Sookie's eyesight, she heard a loud cracking noise. Knitting her eyebrows together, she turned around. She was just in time to have Bill grab her shoulder roughly, and plunge the jagged end of a broken tree limb deeply into her chest.


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: I was gonna wait a little bit longer before I gave you guys a new chapter, but a lot of you are wondering about Evelyn and this is the chapter where you get some answers! I admit that I'm not sure how much I like this chapter – I'm sorry if it seems choppy but there's a lot of background information to Evelyn that I'll be slowly feeding you throughout the story, and it gets just a bit hard to manage. Also, thank you all for the wonderful reviews! They make me feel good about this fic, and it makes me happy to know people are enjoying it! So keep the reviews and story alerts coming, guys. **

By the time Bill came back, I had managed to make the house look like I was an extremely messy person rather than like a tornado hit it. He was standing behind me, watching me quietly. When I saw him I was so surprised I let out a little shriek. "Bill Compton you scared the living daylights out of me!" I said angrily, my hand resting on my chest. I noticed he was alone. "Where's Evelyn?"

"How long have you known Evelyn?" Bill asked. He didn't seem to have paid attention to anything I said to him. His face was smooth and flawless, but I knew he was mad. He was looking at me with an intensity that made me afraid, and I took a step away from him.

"Did you trust her, Sookie? What did you tell her about yourself?" He asked, walking towards me.

"Stop, Bill," I said, holding a hand up as a signal. I thought about rescinding his invitation again, but a part of me was saying that he wasn't going to hurt me. Well, not physically, anyway.

He slowed a bit, but he didn't stop walking. "I don't know what she told you, but Evelyn wasn't who she said she was. I had to protect you-"

"Why are you referring to her in the past tense?" I interrupted him. I waited, my heart hammering against my rib cage, but he didn't say anything. He looked slightly guilty, but not a whole lot. "My God, Bill, what did you do?" I raised my voice, but he still didn't respond.

"In his defense, I think he's actually rather ashamed of himself." Evelyn was in the hallway, looking at Bill with strong disdain. Her clothes were tattered and covered in blood, but there was no wound that I could see. Her cheeks were rosy. "Mr. Compton I think you're scaring Sookie." It was an accusation, suggestion, and threat all rolled into one simple statement.

Bill caught onto it and backed off a bit. "How much do you know about Evelyn?" he asked me, glaring at the other vampire.

He just couldn't stick with asking me one question and it was giving me a headache. I was also getting really nervous. Not that Bill had any room to judge another person's character, but what was so bad about Evelyn? I looked at her, and after a second she met my gaze. She smiled weakly. I didn't take that as a good sign.

"Bill's a bit nervous," she said before I could even get a word in. "I would have preferred to tell you at a time of my choosing, but since Mr. Compton has forced my hand…" She sat down on the couch, folding her hands neatly in her lap. "I've been living in Mississippi for the last decade or so, visiting a friend."

I thought it was kind of funny that ten years was considered a "visit" for her. Then again, when your life didn't have an expiration date, time didn't really matter anymore. I didn't say anything, just looked from her to Bill, wondering at this point if there was anyone that I could still trust. Vampires just didn't seem to be working in that category for me lately.

"My friend was Talbot."

My brain processed all of this very slowly, so it took me a minute to understand what exactly was going on. Fortunately for them, neither Bill nor Evelyn rushed me – they didn't even say anything. Bill did take a few more steps closer to me, which at this point I didn't mind, while Evelyn simply stayed where she was. She didn't look even mildly guilty at this major piece of information she just told.

"I just can't trust any of you, can I?" I didn't expect an answer from either of them; I was just thinking aloud. At this point, I was too tired and sick of the world to discern what I wanted to keep to myself and what I wanted to actually say. I didn't really care anymore. I felt pretty much numb to it all. I stared at Evelyn. "So, what, you here to get revenge for Talbot's death?" I wasn't even the one who killed him – that had been Eric's doing. But I supposed that killing me might count as some sort of justice in her mind. Then I really thought about it. If Evelyn had wanted to simply kill me, she would have done it already. She had had plenty of opportunities these past couple of days.

"Talbot was a dear friend of mine," she explained, frowning a little bit. Then she shook her head. "I'm not here to avenge Talbot by hurting you. I told him a long time ago that associating himself with Russell was going to lead to his end. But as I understand it, love makes us stupid." She added, glancing from me to Bill. "He made his choice, and I cannot possibly blame you for the decisions of others."

She was making it very difficult for me to get angry with her. She didn't plead, or try to rationalize being caught in a lie. Technically, she hadn't even lied. She had just withheld information that I should have known about – kind of like Bill. But I had trusted Bill with far more than I trusted Evelyn, which was why I took his actions as a betrayal. Her falsity felt more like an annoyance or a letdown in comparison.

Another possibility crossed my mind. "Are you working for Russell?" If she had indeed warned Talbot of the vampire King, then it seemed that she didn't have a very high opinion of him. But that didn't mean that she didn't owe him fealty. Russell could have sent her here for some reason. Then I realized that didn't make very much sense either. I scrunched my eyebrows together, frustrated.

"I'd swear fealty to a cow before I worked for Russell Edgington," Evelyn scoffed.

I amused myself with that for a moment, then made myself concentrate on the problem at hand. "So, you are not here because Russell asked you to be?" She could always be lying, but I didn't think that she was. Of course, looking at my track record, I wasn't very good at distinguishing lies from the truth. I glanced at Bill, and he still seemed to be suspicious.

"Oh yes, Russell did ask me," she said, and I gawked at her for a second. She raised her hands in a calming motion before she explained. "Russell and I had a civil relationship for the sake of Talbot, and that's where it ends between us. He finds me to be softhearted and a disgrace to the vampire race, and I think he's an arrogant bigot who let power go to his head." She crinkled her nose in disgust. "But he knows I'm old, older than he is, and he wanted to use me to his advantage. He asked me to come to Bon Temps and kidnap you, so he could drain you completely. He was convinced _that_ would let him walk in the day, the moron." She shook her head. "He said it should be relatively easy to get to you since he had Eric Northman locked in his basement."

I had held my breath when she talked about Russell drinking from me. So she obviously knew that I had fairy blood. She didn't mention it directly, however, and quite honestly she seemed to be disinterested in it. I exhaled, and then something clicked. "You freed Eric," I said, staring at her. "That's why you were gone."

She nodded. "He said he was planning on killing Eric within the next couple of nights, because it was taking too long to starve him. I cut the chains during the day, and then kept Russell busy so the Viking had time to escape." There was a fondness in her voice. I had a feeling that she knew Eric in some way other than anonymously saving his butt.

I shuddered when I thought of how hungry Eric must have been when he escaped, and of the girl that had come out of his office when I visited. "So, if you're not here because of Russell, then why are you?" If she in fact wasn't going to kill me or kidnap me, I didn't know what would possess her to be here.

"I told you, I'm here to protect you," she stated matter-of-factly. "Russell has completely lost the loose grasp he had on sanity when Talbot died. He's doing what he wants without fearing the consequences." I thought of when he ripped out the news anchor's spinal cord. "He wants you, but even if I were to hand you over to him, his treachery won't end. He hates humanity and seeks to destroy it. I haven't been involved in vampire affairs for centuries, but I cannot allow him to hurt any more people. He thinks vampires are the superior race; I, however, don't see the danger in treating humans as equals."

I sat down at this point, because all of this information being thrown at me was getting heavy. I sat on the opposite side of the couch Evelyn was sitting on, and held a hand to Bill when he started over with a concerned look on his face. "I'm fine," I told him quietly. "This is just…a lot."

"I'm sorry if this makes you suspicious of me, Sookie," Evelyn said. She reached forward and grabbed my hand. Bill gave a little jerk in my direction, but did nothing else. "But it's important that you believe me. If you want to get out of this alive, you need me to help you."

Her hands were cold. She was looking directly at me, her gaze not faltering from mine. A part of me wondered if she was trying to glamour me. But I had always felt it before, when other vampires tried. The first time I met Eric, he had tried to glamour me away from Bill. It was hard to explain how it worked, exactly, but I had always been able to feel the influence a vampire tried to press on to me. I didn't feel that now with Evelyn. Still, it didn't change much.

"Were you able to track the demons?" I asked, coming full circle and realizing that was a subject we haven't covered yet. I took my hand out of Evelyn's grasp and leaned backwards slightly. But I avoided looking at Bill, because he was causing a painful ache in my heart with his presence. This news about Evelyn didn't really help anything. I supposed part of the pain was because of her as well – as silly as it might be, I had become rather fond of Evelyn within the few days that I've known her. She was offbeat, and caring; not a mix you often saw in vampires. She was just a likeable person. It was too bad she had been best buddies with the psychopathic vampire King's husband.

I was looking at Evelyn for an answer, but she looked at Bill. "I had to go to Bill's house and drink some of his O negative after our little misunderstanding," she said. "Bill tracked them alone."

"I followed their scent to one of the main roads, where they must have gotten in a car and drove off," he explained, shrugging his shoulders. "There's no way I could track them afterwards."

I sighed. So, Evelyn was more or less associated with the vampire King that wanted to drain me dry for his own selfish purposes, Bill was once again in my life, and the culprits who broke into my house had gotten away. Not to mention I had been locking lips with Eric earlier. This was proving to be one hell of a day. I stood up. "I need to get some sleep," I told them, realizing I had said almost the same thing to Eric about four hours ago. I looked at the clock, frowned at the time, and then looked back at my companions. I worked the day shift tomorrow – it was going to be rough.

"I don't think it's safe for you to be alone," Bill said, exchanging a glance with Evelyn. "They could come back for you."

"Believe it or not, I was able to function before you conned your way into my life," I snapped at him. "You have to go to ground in a little while anyway. If they're coming back to get me, seems like they'd wait until I was alone. So I'm screwed either way!" I knew I wasn't being very fair. I never worried about burglars or being kidnapped before I had been thrown into the world of the supernatural. And when all the bad stuff started happening, I had been pretty convinced for a while that Bill had done his best to protect me from it. But after being blindsided with Bill's real reasons for returning to Bon Temps, I wasn't real sure of anything he did these days. I wasn't about to put any bets on him for anything.

I walked to my front door and opened it. "If ya'll don't mind," I said, staring at them both pointedly.

Evelyn stood immediately. She hesitated as she passed me, saying "Be careful, Sookie." Then she left. Bill stood in my doorway for a longer period, staring at me, looking torn. I could tell that he wanted to touch me – kiss me, hug me, something of that sort. I ignored the knots forming in my stomach and gave him the hardest look I could manage that said I wasn't in the mood for dealing with that tonight. He disappeared after Evelyn and I shut the door right behind him.

I went straight to my bedroom after that, changing into a nightgown and brushing my teeth. I let my hair fall around my shoulders, then washed my face and finally crawled into bed. I fell asleep almost instantly, and woke up feeling very non-refreshed. I stumbled down the hallway, stopping and staring around blankly when I reached the living room. My entire house was clean – practically sparkling. No one would guess that it had been an absolute disaster zone the night before.

Still slightly stunned, I went into the kitchen to fetch some breakfast when I noticed the note on the table. Picking up, I scanned over it quickly:

_Sookie, I'm sorry I snuck into your house after we said our goodbyes last night, but I thought the least I could do was clean your house for you. I know that I'm not in the position to ask for favors, but please don't tell Eric that I'm here. I have reasons for that as well that I'll be willing to share if you want to hear the story. _

_Eve_

Well, she was just one big ball of mystery, wasn't she? She was right about me not owing her any favors, but she was poking at my curiosity. What kind of relationship could she and Eric possibly have? They seemed to be complete opposites of one another, and not in a way that they just might attract. Eric was devious and cunning. I had never seen Evelyn act in a way that couldn't be described as amicable. She seemed to avoid violence, even at the cost of being staked apparently. And, well, Eric lived for battle. It was hard to imagine anything between them being friendly or even civil (on Eric's end, at least). I made myself stop thinking about it when I realized I was slowly working myself up to feeling jealous over the possibilities.

I lounged around until it was time for me to go in for my shift. I agreed with the part of Eve's note that said I didn't owe her any favors, but I knew that I was still going to keep her a secret from Eric anyway.


	8. Chapter 8

**AN: I'm going crazy with updates. This is a fun fic to write, and it's getting to the point where the chapters coming up are going to have lots of action. :D I'd like to give shout outs to sj61, peppermintyrose, murgatroid-98, LavenderLady3, and all the other reviewers for taking the time to comment! Your reviews seriously just give me all the more muse. So, yeah, just letting you know you people are awesome. Keep up the story alerts and reviews! **

In the middle of my vampire rut, I had returned to a life much similar to the one I had pre-Bill. The only thing that was different, really, was that I was plagued with thoughts of my undead companions from time to time. Plus, I knew the down and dirty of the supernatural – not just the things that Nan Flanagan told the world. But I had reestablished a bond with my coworkers at the bar, as well as the regular customers. Some of them hadn't been too fond of me getting mixed up in vampires the way I had, and when they noticed that there was a considerable lack of fangs around me, they warmed right back up to me. As much as I hated to admit it, my tips had also gotten a lot better since it got around that I was no longer consorting with the undead. People hadn't forgotten the news anchor's tragic death.

I was working with my friend Arlene this shift, which was nice. She hadn't particularly liked Bill or vampires, and as time went on her distaste for them only grew. Our friendship had a lot of up and downs, but things between us had been going pretty good lately. I gave her a smile and a wave as I entered the bar, and she returned the gesture. I was going to walk into Sam's office so I could get ready to work, but stopped when I saw the flaming redhead walking towards me. I was prepared for her to tell me some sort of story.

"Sookie, I just don't know what to do!" she said desperately, grabbing my arm and dragging me off to a corner. Arlene, normally very slender, was as big as a house. She was pregnant with her third child, and while she claimed that it was her boyfriend Terry's, everyone knew that it was really René's. His real name being Drew Marshall, he had dated Arlene numerous times. Everyone had always liked René, until it turned out he was a psychopath who hated vampires and fangbangers alike. I had killed him when he tried to kill me. Arlene had been devastated. We hadn't talked about the whole incident since it happened; it was something neither one of us liked to think about.

"What's the matter, Arlene?" I asked, feigning curiosity. Arlene liked to talk, and I had become adept at listening to her. In truth, I tended to zone out for most of the conversation, but it wasn't hard to get the gist of what she was saying. She often took about an hour to explain a problem that should take five minutes.

"Terry is insisting I start my maternity leave now, but I still got a month to go! We need the money, but I'm so darn tired by the end of the shift." Arlene was good at making whining not sound like whining. I did feel sympathetic for her plight, however. She sighed heavily and ran her hands through her hair. "What do you think I should do, Sookie?"

I could tell she was looking for a pity party more than actual advice. Her thoughts said she was frustrated that she wasn't paid more, she was still nervous as all get out about having René's baby, and she wasn't sure that she could take care of the new child as well as Cody and Lisa. I was feeling in a relatively good mood now that I didn't have to worry about cleaning my house, so I was willing to go along with her for a while. "I think that baby is gonna be adorable and have the sweet personality of his mama," I said with confidence. I didn't rub her stomach, like many people would have done by now; I knew Arlene hated having people rub her belly, or "talk" to the baby. I couldn't really say that I blamed her.

"Why don't you ask Sam if there's more desk work you can do? You know he hates doing the paperwork around here – I'm sure he'd be more than happy to pay you to do that." The only problem with that was Arlene wasn't very organized – I would clean her trailer every once in a while as payment when she took over my shifts for me at work. Between working and taking care of two growing children, she didn't have much time for being neat.

Arlene hugged me, which was a bit awkward cause of her belly, but I hugged her back. "Sookie Stackhouse, you're an angel," she said, letting me go. She waddled over to the bar where Sam was restocking the alcohol.

Smiling to myself, I grabbed an apron from Sam's office and tied it around my waist. I gave a greeting to Terry as I walked passed the kitchen. He was a man who had been damaged physically and mentally from war, but a kind soul who treated Arlene well. Still, the horrors Terry undoubtedly witnessed in his younger days took a toll on him, and he had his good and bad days. It was why I made sure the steel plates around my mind were locked firmly in place when I was around Terry – I did not, under any circumstances, read his thoughts.

"Hey, cher," Sam greeted, smiling warmly at me. "Sorry about the back-to-back shifts like this, but I thought that you would prefer getting out earlier." Sam tried to be subtle in his support for my vampire-free lifestyle. He didn't really succeed, but I appreciated his attempts. I wondered when I would have to tell him that I was back to my old ways. I decided that was a conversation I could avoid for a while.

People started to wander in, and Arlene and I set to work. She was moving a lot slower these days (obviously) so I worked extra hard for both of our sakes. I tended to her tables whenever she was taking a break. I tried to be polite and seem friendly to the customers, but that was a face I had to work harder and harder to keep as the night went on. We were pretty packed and Arlene needed a lot of breaks. I was dead on my feet after a couple of hours, and Sam must have noticed, because he asked Holly to come in.

"She's just here to take some pressure off of you," he said when I went to protest to him. He grabbed my hand and tugged on it gently. "Come on, Sook, take a break."

I had to admit, sitting down sounded pretty damn good right about now. But I looked at Arlene and shook my head. "Let Arlene go home – that will be a good enough break." I just couldn't sit down while my heavily pregnant friend went on working in this hell house. She looked just as exhausted as I felt, but probably twice so.

"Five minutes." Sam was bargaining with me now. "Sit down with me for five minutes, and then I'll let Arlene go home and you can finish out your shift."

At this point, I wasn't going to argue, because Sam was in one of those moods where he wouldn't take no for an answer. Feeling rather disgusted with myself, I went back to his office with him and sat down in one of the chairs in front of his desk. I stared at the clock on the wall, watching the painstakingly slow ticks. I could feel relief flood through my feet the instant I sat down, but I was still jumpy. I couldn't get my mind off of poor Arlene. These five minutes were not going to be refreshing.

Sam sat behind his desk, putting his feet on the desktop leisurely. He put his hands behind his head, looking at me for a couple of seconds. I knew I looked like I was sitting on thumbtacks, but I just couldn't be comfortable. My eyes traveled from my boss's handsome face to the clock again. I frowned. Only thirty seconds had gone by.

"We haven't really talked in a while, Sook," Sam started the conversation, looking at me. He was smiling, but the taste of his emotions told me that he was also worried. Everyone was worried about me these days. It was like they were expecting me to spontaneously combust or something. "So, tell me what's been going on."

He wanted a very specific answer, an answer I had just told myself I wouldn't give him tonight. I panicked for a minute, wondering what the hell I was going to do. Then I told myself that Sam couldn't possibly know I had reestablished my old lifestyle (more or less) with vampires. I just didn't know how he would take it, and I really couldn't deal with him being mad at me right now. I would be lying if I said I never had the occasional fantasy about my boss, and he apparently had a thing for me too once upon a time. But we were always friends first, and he was a friend that I definitely didn't want to lose.

"Well, um, Bill and I broke up," I said hesitantly, realizing that I had never exactly made the news official to anyone. After a while it was just pretty easy to assume, I guess. I smiled and shrugged, but tried not to make it too obvious that I was uncomfortable. "I've just been enjoying the company of my fellow breathers, that's all." _Breathers? _How very vampire-like of me. I had the sudden urge to hit my head against the wall.

Sam didn't seem to notice my slip up. "I figured as much. He wasn't right for you, Sookie. You deserve a lot better." He was looking at me with an expression that I had been seeing less of lately. I had thought that he might have moved on – I knew he had dated a few other women since he declared he had feelings for me. I was hoping that he would have found a nice girl by now.

"So do you, Sam," I said, smiling at him meaningfully. I knew that the fantasies I sometimes entertained myself with about my boss were going to remain just that – fantasies. Even though I cared very deeply for my boss and loved him, I knew that it would never be in the way he wanted. We just wouldn't work out. And in the back of my mind, a little voice was telling me it was because of vampires. After realizing the blessing of silence that came with the undead, I could never truly push them out of my life. I couldn't date regular men because of my disability, and even though I couldn't get as strong of a read on shifters like Sam, I still would know a lot more about him than I cared to know. I felt incredibly selfish, having things put in perspective for me like this, but I couldn't deny it. Just like the vampires had an attraction for me because of my fairy blood, I had an attraction for them because I couldn't read their minds. Vampires and I had one of those relationship things that you learned about in biology class – symbiotic associations. Mutualism. We benefited from each other; there was just a huge amount of drama involved that parasites and bacteria didn't have to deal with.

"So, have you seen him lately?" he asked, and I knew he was talking about Bill. I was actually thankful that he reverted the conversation back to the previous subject.

"He stopped over for a bit last night, just to check up on me," I said evenly. I wasn't a very good liar, but I found that I was much more convincing when I stuck as close to the truth as possible. I was just keeping key points of information from him; like how demons broke into my house and were trying to kidnap me. Hell, the vampires did it to me all the time so it's only natural that I pick up one or two of their tricks, right? Somehow my argument didn't seem plausible. I sighed. "But before that, I hadn't seen him for about six months."

"Do you still got feelings for him?" he asked me. He must have noticed the look on my face, because he quickly backtracked. "I'm sorry, Sookie, it's not right that I ask."

"You're right, it's not," I told him sternly. Still, he made me think. Bill had been my first lover, my first boyfriend, my first run-in with a vampire; he was behind many milestones in my life, and I just couldn't forget something like that. I had loved him more than I thought it would be possible for me to love anybody outside of family, and a part of me knew that he loved me. But he had used me, and had been sent just so he could deliver me to the vampire Queen of Louisiana. And then after seeing him for the first time in half a year he tried to kill Evelyn, a vampire who had more mystery and secrets surrounding her than anyone I knew, but someone who I cautiously trusted. "He's got a lot to make up for, and he's trying, but he's going about it in the wrong way," I said, then fell silent.

We both sat there quietly for a little while. It wasn't unpleasant but oddly enough I wasn't in the mood for quiet right about then. Looking at the clock, I jumped up out of my chair. "Five minutes are up," I said, hurrying to the door. I was halfway there when I stopped, turned around, and planted a kiss on Sam's cheek. "You're a good friend, Sam," I told him, and he smiled at me. I left and told Arlene to go home, and she was more than happy to oblige. Holly was happy to have me take over, and she cast me a grateful glance when she walked by.

Despite thinking that I would be just as miserable as I had been before my break, I did feel a bit better. Physically, I was as tired as an old dog, but my mind was more at ease. I think it was because of this that I suddenly picked up something very odd as far as brain waves went. I stopped, balancing a tray of food on the palm of my hand, and looked around. The bar was full of patrons, but there were several newcomers as well. Overall, it was a very generalized mix of customers. But there was something wrong about it.

Scrunching my eyebrows together, I let the plates around my mind give way a little more and I finally picked up on what was nagging at me. There were a lot of people thinking about me. I don't mean that in a self-indulgent way – they weren't thinking about how nicely my shirt framed my chest or about my ass. I couldn't really tell what these people were thinking; I just knew that it was about me. My heart stopped beating for a second, and then started again in a frantic pace. Demons - lots of them.


	9. Chapter 9

I was frozen to the spot for a moment, panic making me immobile. For a second, I had a wide range of thoughts going through my head. My instincts told me to book it right then and there, to go find Eric or Evelyn or somebody that could help me. Or I could just pretend that nothing was wrong, and keep serving my kidnappers like I had been for almost the entire night. How did I not notice them before? I counted six of them; hardly a bar full, but still quite the extraction team. Apparently Russell was getting tired of waiting around. If Russell was even behind this whole thing - Evelyn had never really elaborated on that. Not that it mattered much right now. I didn't really care who was in charge; I still didn't want to go.

Making myself snap out of my fear, I delivered the tray of food I had to the right table. They weren't demons, but they looked at me oddly when I set their food in front of them, probably because my grin was just a bit too large even for a friendly waitress. I was on my way back towards the kitchen when I was flagged down. Because luck was always on my side, this particular customer _was_ a demon. I hurried over, walking like there were hot coals under my feet. The woman was sitting by herself, and she looked like she belonged in some hot nightclub in Miami. I wasn't even aware that they made clothes like the ones she was wearing. She had some shiny silver mini dress on. The neckline swooped down to her navel. Every male in the bar had looked at her at least once, and she seemed to enjoy the attention.

"What can I get ya?" I asked pleasantly, but my voice cracked a bit. I was still doing my Crazy Sookie grin. I tried not to stare at her (minimal) clothing, so I was staring intently at her face. She had been gifted with a body that belonged on the cover of a magazine, but her facial features were nothing memorable.

"I'll take a salad. Ranch dressing, please," she said, smiling back at me. For someone who was there to kidnap me, she was acting pretty normal. I had to wonder how she was possibly going to be any help to the others while wearing what she was – that dress had so many danger zones I wouldn't even be comfortable with walking on a flat surface if it was on me.

"Coming right up," I said, turning around quickly and almost jogging back to the kitchen. I had made my mind up, but I wasn't very happy with the solution I had come up with. Obviously, the demons were just going to wait until I got off of work – or just jump me when I wasn't looking and drag me out. Either way, I was pretty much a sitting duck at Merlotte's. I needed to get out of there, and hide out somewhere. I thought about Fangtasia, but it was a good drive away and the demons could intercept me at any time. Plus, Eric wouldn't even be there until the sun set. I could go to Bill's, but he wouldn't be awake either. I didn't even know where Evelyn stayed. They obviously already knew where I lived. My only option seemed to be Jason's.

Funnily enough, I gave Terry the order ticket before I snuck out the back door that led to where the employees parked their cars. I ran to my car without much thought, jumping inside and shakily starting the engine. I almost cried when it came to life with a roar that seemed so loud the whole town ought to have heard it. I didn't know if demons had enhanced senses or not, but I was praying that they were extremely deaf.

As it turns out, they weren't.

I watched in my rearview mirror a group of people hurriedly exiting the bar as I pulled out of Merlotte's. I found myself speeding again, and I tapped my hands in a nervous rhythm against the steering wheel. I had to go home before going to Jason's. He was at work, and his house would be locked up. I had an extra key sitting on top of the refrigerator. I could always just drive around town and find him, but I could run into some of my demonic pals in the process. Going straight to Jason's would be safer for him. If I was lucky, the danger would pass by the time he got home. But I knew better than to put that much faith into wishful thinking.

I was cautious when I drove to my house, examining every inch of my yard and what I could see of my house for any disturbances. It looked like the whole clan had gone to intercept me at Merlotte's. I knew I didn't have a lot of time. I left the engine on and the door open, jogging up to my door. Evelyn had replaced my ruined door last night as well. Considering she didn't seem to even own a car, I wondered how the hell she got the thing over here. If I ever saw her again I would really have to ask her.

I ran into my house, grabbing the extra key to Jason's house and shoving it in the pocket of my shorts. Then, I headed into my bedroom so I could grab some clothes. I had a feeling no one was going to let me stay at my house after this. Vampires were so high handed. I grabbed a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt, along with my toothbrush. I figured I probably had pajamas of some sort at Jason's, and I wasn't against using his shampoo to take a shower. Plus, I was being pursued by a group of demons – there was no time to be picky.

Holding my items in my arms, I opened the door with a bit of a challenge, and set my stuff in the passenger seat. Looking back now, I should have gotten Jason's keys and left. And I _really_ shouldn't have gone back to lock the house up. It was obvious that locked doors did not deter the demons any. I was acting more out of habit than anything else. I had just stuck the key in the lock when someone grabbed me from behind, putting their hand over my mouth to muffle my scream. I thrashed and clawed at the mysterious arms dragging me back to no avail. I lifted my legs, kicking wildly. My feet slammed against my door, and the two of us stumbled backward. We fell down the steps of my porch, and I connected with the stairs. I landed on my arm, and it gave way under my weight with a crack.

Once I was done falling down the stairs, I was on top of my kidnapper. It was my good pal Luke. Perfect. I scrambled away, crawling back up the steps toward my door. My left arm was completely useless, but I was too scared to even glance at the damage.

I screamed again when a hand clasped around my ankle, and I was dragged backwards. My chin snapped against one of the steps. The force of the hit and now the combined pain of my jaw and arm made me disoriented for a minute. I came to when Luke tried to pick me up, and I went back to fighting. I tried to hit him, but my arms weren't long enough to land a solid punch. Eventually I managed to kick him in the pelvis, and he fell to the ground like a sack of potatoes.

I got up and bolted for my door, slamming it shut behind me and locking it. I backed away, expecting my new door to be broken down and for the chase to continue. But the door wasn't touched. I wasn't brave enough to look through the peephole. I opened the closet at the bottom of the stairs and pulled out the shotgun that Sam had given me. I tried to lift my arm to hold the barrel, but it wouldn't respond. I wasn't a doctor, but I knew that wasn't a good sign. Tears started to stream down my face, and I cradled the limp limb against my chest. I could taste my blood in my mouth, and I moved my jaw experimentally. Whoa, ouch.

I heard tires on the gravel. Sneaking into the living room, I pushed the curtain aside just enough to peek outside. A big black truck was parked in the middle of my yard. What, could they not even bother to stay on the driveway? They had to ruin my yard too? I watched the club girl jump down from the driver's side of the truck, and a man jumped out from the other side. Pretty soon the rest of them congregated in front of my house, including Luke. I felt mildly proud to see him covered in blood, although I realized most of it was probably mine. He did have an arm going over his rib cage, though, so I concentrated my pride on that little accomplishment.

They were all talking with one another, apparently discussing the best ways to get me. I wondered why they just didn't barge into my house and take me – not that I was complaining. Perhaps they had some code they had to follow, like vampires. Maybe they had to be invited in also? I dejected that idea almost instantly. They had broken into my house with no problems, it seemed. Still, just watching them stand around outside like this was some sort of social gathering was really irritating. I knew I should do something to defend myself, but I had no ideas as to what that might be.

They all turned towards the house and started to walk towards me. I lunged back from the window and ran down the hallway. I went into the spare bedroom right across my room – Gran's old room – and slipped inside the closet. I opened the trap door in the floor, and crawled inside. Bill had made himself a little hidey-hole that he could sleep in so he could stay at my house during the day sometimes. It was too small of a space to even crouch in, so I had to lie on my back. I heard a loud bang and the splintering of wood. I was going to have to get myself another door. At least it wasn't the new one. I shut the trap door and was engulfed in darkness.

I tried to keep my breathing shallow as I listened. I could hear several footsteps, and I guessed that they were searching the house for me. I moved my head a little bit, looking around my hiding spot, but not seeing anything other than black. Bill had really made sure that this thing was light proof. I supposed that was kind of important, but it was pretty good craftsmanship. I tried not to think too much about how I was currently in a hole that a dead guy used to sleep in, or about how me being in the hole was kind of ironic considering I was alive and all. I felt the cold metal of the shotgun's barrel resting against my neck. It was comforting, even though I wasn't going to be able to use it. Jason had taught me a long time ago how to shoot a gun, but I wasn't skilled or strong enough to wield such a weapon one handed. Hell, I could barely handle slicing pork with a butcher knife one handed. Brute strength was not my strong point – pun intended.

Someone walked into the spare bedroom. Letting go of the shotgun, I clamped my hand over my mouth. I really didn't know if they could hear me breathing or not, but I didn't want to do anything to help them. I could hear the floorboards creaking near me, but they retreated in a quick manner and the room was empty again.

I wasn't really sure how long I lay there, and I also wasn't sure how much longer I would have to continue laying there. I couldn't hear anything as far as movement went, so I reached out with my mind. They were still in my house, and there were more than just the ones that had been at the bar. I could pick out Luke's "signature" amongst all the others. That Luke and I, we were really beginning to get to know each other. The next step in our relationship was to exchange phone numbers and meet up for coffee. Maybe that would happen when my arm healed and my head didn't feel like I had just been smacked with a brick.

Someone was yelling now. It was a male voice, but not one that I recognized. I couldn't hear what he was saying, but he wasn't very happy. I imagine that had something to do with me, so I felt rather smug about that. Of course, my pompous mood was deflated when someone reentered the bedroom. I heard things being moved around, and from the sounds of it the spare bed had just been completely overturned – frame and all. So much for Evelyn's cleaning deal. I quickly forgot about that when the closet door was opened, and there were two distinct thumps right above my head. Dust dislodged from the cracks in the board, and I just so happened to be breathing in through my nose right then. I felt a horrifically familiar tickle in my nostrils, and I slammed my hand against my nose so hard that it hurt. Just another addition to the injuries list. At least that one was self-inflicted.

I tried not to breathe, held my nose shut and ground my teeth together, but there was just no stopping it. I muffled the sneeze with my hand, but the damage had been done. Whoever was standing above me jumped at the noise, causing more dust to fall and I closed my eyes to avoid irritation. The feet moved back and a pair of hands briefly rubbed over the floor until they found the latch to the trap door.

I was roughly yanked out of my hiding spot. I had planned on going quietly, because quite frankly I was tired and wanted to reserve a bit of my strength for when I would really need it. But one of those giant hands grasped my left shoulder, and the pain made me cry out. The agony turned into adrenaline, and I started flailing again. The man hit me, and my knees buckled. He grabbed my hair and dragged me down the hallway. I clawed at his hands with my usable arm, digging my nails as deeply into his flesh as I could manage but to no avail. Sometimes, it really sucked to be human.

As I was lugged through my living room like a suitcase, I saw the legs of several other people. I was tossed on my couch, and I managed to turn my body just in time so my left arm was spared any extra pain. My eyes hurt from crying, and I could feel the tearstains drying on my cheeks. I was sure my face was mottled with blood; I could still taste it on my lips. I looked at the big man who had thrown me on the couch. He made me wonder if giants were real. He was taller than Eric, and he had so much muscle I figured his mother must have been pumping him full of steroids since he was on the bottle. I couldn't help but stare at him for a while, even though his back was to me and he was talking to his friends.

Looking to the others, I saw Luke first. He was standing off in the corner, looking ashamed for some reason. Well, good. Hopefully he was suffering severe emotional trauma. I think I would even be happy to hear he had just been diagnosed with cancer at this point. My unchristian thoughts made me feel better, and I sat up a bit straighter. The only other demon I recognized was the club girl, whose dress was riding dangerously far up her thighs. I didn't know the others, but there were a lot more of them than there had been at the bar. Apparently I required reinforcements. I felt pretty good about that, too.

"He's not going to be happy," the man said to his companions, still not facing me. He sounded worried. "We weren't supposed to deliver damaged goods."

Luke threw his hands up in the air. "I tried! She's a feisty little bitch," he complained.

I seemed to have been forgotten. I glanced around at my captors, and then calculated how long it would take me to get out my door, into my car, and drive away to safety. I still had Jason's keys in my pocket. I shifted my weight forward a bit, which attracted the attention of everyone in the room. No one said anything, and there seemed to be some sort of staring contest going on between me and them. I lost. I leaned back again, and they returned to completely ignoring me. Holding my hurt arm close to my side, I glanced at the clock on the wall. My bottom lip trembled for a second. It was another two hours before the sun would set.


	10. Chapter 10

"Russell is not going to be pleased."

Well I could be sure who was behind this now; not that it wasn't basically spelled out before. I listened to their conversation, my head leaning against the couch and my eyes closed. My whole body seemed to be throbbing with pain, but I was able to ignore it pretty well – or at least keep a straight face. I didn't want anyone other than myself to know that all I really wanted to do was curl in a ball and cry until I couldn't even manage to do that anymore. But tears wouldn't get me anywhere.

"Look, he wanted us to get the girl. We got her," Luke said. "She might not have been protected by the fangs, but this wasn't no cakewalk. So what if she's a little banged up? At least she's not dead." Luke was such an optimist.

"He didn't want to waste her blood," the big man replied. "Apparently it's some sort of delicacy." He sounded disgusted. I felt the same way.

I struggled to open my eyes, and then tried to push myself up. The giant man was in front of me in a second, forcing me back down. "Stay there," he said coldly. I thanked the Lord he didn't touch my injured arm.

"I'm getting blood on my couch," I complained. Evelyn had just cleaned the house, and here I was getting it dirty less than twenty-four hours later. Then again, if I had any say in it, the whole place would still be sparkling. I never chose to get beaten up, but it still happened rather often. The giant gave me a funny look. I really didn't like him. He was big enough to make just about everyone think twice about even raising their voice to him, but I knew a Viking who could kick his ass.

After getting over how odd I was, he smirked at me. "That's the least of your problems, lady."

I glared. "Just let me get a chair from my kitchen and I'll sit in here all nice and quiet while ya'll talk about what color bow should be tied around me when you deliver me to Russell." I was lying. I was lying through my teeth and was very well meaning too. Time wasn't going by any faster, and I just couldn't sit here waiting for Evelyn or Bill to come to my rescue. They obviously had wanted to avoid them, and I was sure we'd be leaving my house before the sun set. I had a blood bond with both Bill and Eric – a little fact that always made me feel awkward – so they could track me. There were a lot of complications that came with them tracking me down, though; Russell had the advantage. Plus, I could be dead by the time they found me.

He looked at club girl. "Escort her to the kitchen," he ordered.

She nodded, and walked towards me. The shortness of her dress might be a contributing factor, but I thought she had gorgeous long legs. She reminded me of the dancer Yvette who used to work at Fangtasia. She stood in front of me, kicking my leg lightly with her stiletto-adorned foot. "Let's go," she said.

I could feel the anger clawing at the inside of my stomach. It took me a second to stand up, and she must have gotten impatient because she tried to help me up. I smacked her hand away. "I don't need your help," I snarled.

A wave of soft laughter went through the room, and the club girl's face flushed a deep red. Her hand shot forward and she grabbed my arm despite my protests, and my skin under her hand started to burn. There were no flames, but I saw a faint reddish glow between her palm and my arm. Before I could even start to scream from the pain, the giant man smacked her roughly upside the head. "Don't make her condition worse," he chided. She let go.

Tears brimmed my eyes again, but I blinked them away angrily. I stomped into the kitchen, the click of heels right behind me. At this point I wasn't sure if my left or right arm hurt more. My throbbing jaw was also a good contender. The aftereffects of the burn still clung to my skin, and already it was starting to blister. I grabbed a chair from the table, pulled it out slightly and then left it. I went to the counter, tearing off a piece of a paper towel and running it under cool water in the sink. I clamped it in my fist to wring it out, but then I struggled with actually putting it on my burn. For the first time I tried desperately to move my left arm, to even wiggle a finger. Try as I might, nothing happened. I tried to calm my growing panic with unstable success.

"Let me." Club girl was beside me now, reaching for the damp paper towel that I had failed to get on my arm. Her voice was much softer and I almost thought it was actually friendly. That couldn't be, of course. Friendly people didn't give you second-degree burns.

I gave her what I hoped was a searing look, but I let her take the towel from my hand. She grabbed my wrist gently and held out my arm, placing the towel over my forearm. The contrast between the burned skin and the cold dampness was nice, and the pain instantly started to ebb away. She kept her eyes on what she was doing. "We'll have to keep it covered for about fifteen minutes. It should be covered afterwards. Do you have bandages?"

"Thanks for telling me. I'm so glad that I got burned just so I could learn this valuable piece of information!" I didn't care that she was acting all nice and sincere. I didn't owe her one ounce of politeness. She was here to kidnap me, for God's sake. I was pretty surprised when she actually flinched at my tone, though. I stared at her for a minute, then huffed. "The bathroom in my room," I said finally.

She smiled a bit, which just pissed me off more. I didn't want to be _smiled_ at. I wanted to beat her and her friends over the head with a brick. I wanted to be alone in my own house, or at least have guests that I actually invited. I wanted to not get beaten up and have to drink vampire blood just to heal. Most of all, I didn't want to be a fairy. The whole concept had seemed to be boring to me when I first found out I was part fae. Now I thought of it as more of a curse - a very unfair, horrible curse.

"Let's go," she said, keeping her hand gently cupped around my forearm while steering me out of the kitchen. We had to go back through the living room, and everyone turned to look as we walked in. "Bitch won't stop complaining about her damn arm," she said, "I'm going to clean her up a bit." A few of the males grinned perversely as she spoke, but no one stopped her. I was afraid she was going to tighten her grip on my arm just to make my discomfort seem more real, but the pressure remained light and compared to the other pain I was experiencing hardly noticeable.

I led the way into my bedroom. She sat me down on the edge of my bed, positioning my arm so that the damp cloth wouldn't fall off when she let go. I told her the bandages were behind the mirror, and she walked into the bathroom. Finally being alone, my mind went wild with possible escape routes. Crawling out the window would be the quickest option, as it was very close and there wasn't a gang of demons I would have to go through. But I knew from the warm summer nights that settled on Bon Temps every season that the window practically screamed when it was opened. Not only would it get the attention of little miss short dress, but the rest of the clan as well. Perhaps a more logical choice was my back door. I would have to sneak out of my bedroom and down the hallway, and then open the door without anyone noticing. Thinking about it made it seem just as difficult as going out the window. I frowned, but my inner debate was cut short because the club girl came back, bandages in hand.

She removed the paper towel, which was now stained a sickly yellow that made my stomach churn, and unrolled the bandage. I watched her wrap my arm delicately. "What's your name?" I asked her, keeping my eyes on my arm. I had no personal interest other than I was getting tired of referring to her as the girl who should be in a club.

"Kali," she said. Her voice was indifferent, but not mean. I was starting to notice a pattern here.

"This is a really bad idea, what you're doing, Kali," I told her earnestly. As if she were going to listen to me. I was hurt physically and mentally, and I was pissed off. I admit that I was a little afraid too. Okay, really afraid. I was too proud to just completely lose myself in a frenzy of panic, but my confidence was shaky. Selfishly, I wanted somebody else to feel just as unsure as I did, and Kali was the only one in the room.

Her facial expression didn't change as she continued bandaging. "Really? I would have thought you'd like to have this bandaged up. It won't heal otherwise," she said sarcastically, making it a point to not look at my face.

I rolled my eyes. "Why bother? You and your friends are just going to hand me over to Russell Edgington and he just wants to drain me dry. So I'm going to die anyway. How'd demons even start working for a delusional bastard like him?" I snapped, jerking my arm away from her slightly in response.

She grabbed my wrist with impressive reflexes and kept me from moving. "Sorry, but that's not my problem. He paid us all very well to come and get you. He said it was too dangerous for him to do it himself, and unsurprisingly he found his werewolves unreliable for the task." She was speaking with pride in her tone and it made me sick. "But he made it clear that your blood was not to be spilled. Luke underestimated you. Twice." She sounded kind of amused now. "Since you've obviously bled, we'll probably get a dock in our pay."

Well wasn't that just a pity. "I'm friends with lots of vampires," I told her with a sneer. "Aren't you the least bit afraid of what they're going to do to you when they find out who you all are?"

"Not really," she said calmly, and I visibly deflated. I really sucked at this mind fuckery thing. I was going to have to spend more time with Pam. Or, maybe not. I wasn't interested in picking up that lesbian weirdness that Eric's child practically radiated just because she knew it made me feel awkward. I really wasn't into stuff like that. Kali looked at me curiously. "That old vampire though, where'd you find her at? She's about as old as they get. She'll be a bitch to deal with."

I had to keep back a smile. If the thought of Evelyn even gave her an ounce of discomfort, then I would take it. There was no need to mention that Eve wouldn't hurt a fly. "She's a good friend of mine," I said. There was also no need to mention that I was exaggerating just a bit.

Kali actually looked impressed. "Too bad she just didn't kill Russell from the get-go," she said, tucking in the end of the bandage and standing up.

She had a point. Why hadn't Eve just killed Russell following Talbot's death? It would have saved me a lot of grief as well as everyone else. I wouldn't be in this situation right now if Russell was dead – as in dead dead. I stood up as well, just a bit more cautiously. I heard an engine start outside.

Kali heard it too, and she turned her head towards the door. "It's time to go," she said, grabbing my bicep and dragging me along.

I started to really think about what was going to happen to me. Russell wouldn't waste any time in drinking from me. There would be no Eric to save me (even though I still wasn't truly convinced that was his plan the first time around), nor would Bill be there. My last moments would be in the hands of some psychopathic killer with his fangs buried in my neck. I wouldn't even have the opportunity to say goodbye to anyone that I loved; Jason, Tara, Sam, Bill (though I hated to still admit it). I wasn't sure what category to put Eric and Eve in, but I would miss them too. The hysteria that I had tried so hard to keep at bay overwhelmed me. I didn't want to die, especially in the arms of a sadistic vampire King.

I felt a surge of energy start to rush to my hand, and I quickly broke free of Kali's grasp and set my hand close to her face. There was a flare of light and the demon was sent flying down the hall, knocking into a couple of her companions who had come to see what we were doing. I turned and ran, practically jumping off my porch when I got outside and charging into the woods. It was raining now, as luck would have it, and every now and again you could see the dark clouds light up from the thunder. I was soaked from head to toe by the time I reached the shelter of the trees. This was just a hell of a day.

I heard frantic shouts behind me, and I pushed myself to run faster. I was tired and the pain from my various injuries was returning with a vengeance, but I kept running. Ihad to keep running or else I was going to die. Let me tell you, that was damn good incentive to keep the speed up. I was aiming for Bill's house, because in my frenzy of thoughts that was the decision I had come up with. All other options I had exercised seemed to fail anyway. I would wake Bill up somehow – dammit, I would. I didn't care if I had to stab him with a fork in order to do it, either.

The number of times I went across the cemetery to get to Bill's house was literally uncountable. I could probably get there with my eyes closed if I went the way I usually did. In my desperation to put some distance between my kidnappers and myself I hadn't really paid attention to where I was going. I knew I was traveling in the general direction of his house, but I had never run through the forest before. I just knew that the trees would help worsen disability along with the rain.

I tried to be quiet as I weaved through the trees, sometimes getting so close to them that parts of my body would scrape against the bark. I didn't slow down though. I did realize that I should check in to see how far away the demons were from me. The combination of the rain and the thunder made it impossible to hear their voices if they were even using them. I used my mind, almost tripping over an uprooted tree branch. I could sense them everywhere; behind me, to the left and right, but not in front yet. They were working on it, though. They had figured out where I was going, and were trying to cut me off.

In the middle of a rumble of thunder, there was a scream. I stopped, slamming my back against a tree, and looked around. It sounded a ways off, and it had stopped just as suddenly as it had begun. The thoughts, or intents I guess, of those around me changed. It changed from a slightly panicked need to find me and to get to Bill's house into an absolute frenzy for survival. There were more cries of pain, and when one ended, another seemed to start. It was like some sort of horrific symphony, and I was scared witless.

I was running again, not completely sure who my enemy was now. I tried to find out, using my telepathy, but everything was so scrambled and cluttered that I couldn't get a clear read on anything. For a second, I forgot what the hell I was doing out there. Bill's house, I reminded myself. Get to Bill's house. I wondered what kind of trouble I was going to be dragging with me through the front door.

I let out an audible sigh of relief when I saw Bill's house through the trees. Actually, I felt so good I almost laughed. It was short-lived happiness, though, because I felt a presence behind me and it was too late to react. A hand shot out for my throat, clamping around my neck with alarming strength. I rasped in a breath, wrapping my hands around a white arm trying to lessen the grip. I had no effect whatsoever, of course.

The vampire holding me had a lean build and a pronounced face. He had dark colored hair that was wet and plastered to his head. I imagined I looked fairly similar to him; only I was in a lot more pain and couldn't breathe. "The Queen demands your presence," he said to me. I wanted to kick him, but I was too close to really make it effective. First a King, and now a Queen. There was only one Queen that I knew of, although I've never actually met her. And I had to say that I wasn't really interested in it, either. She was the one who ordered Bill to come to Bon Temps so he could deliver me to her.

I was about to ask him if the Queen preferred me to be dead seeing as that's the direction I was headed in, but I never got the chance. My throat was suddenly freed, and I bent over coughing. I looked in front of me, but the vampire wasn't in front of me anymore. I saw a dark lump lying on the ground. And there was someone else standing over this lump, and I could just make out enough of the facial features to recognize Evelyn. She was grinning at me. I did laugh then, because a wave of certainty over my safety washed over me.


	11. Chapter 11

After I got over my little fit of insane laughter, I remembered a key factor in this whole equation. "It's still day time out," I said, staring at her. I looked up just in case there was a big lapse in time and I didn't notice. The sky was dark and it was still raining, but most definitely still day.

"Sun's behind the clouds. It's a dangerous game to play but I had a feeling you were in danger. Turns out I was right, because Bill felt your duress." She seemed much more elated than usual. She stepped over the body of the vampire that had grabbed me, and took my arm gently. "We need to go."

I nodded, but then pointed at the body. "Who was he? I thought I just had demons after me at the moment." How silly of me to believe otherwise. I was Sookie Stackhouse, after all; wanted or hated by just about all members of the supernatural community. "He mentioned the Queen," I added, thinking that would mean more to her than it did to me.

Evelyn tilted her head to the side a bit. "Interesting," she said absent mindedly. She thought for a second, then shook her head and tugged on my arm a little bit. "We don't have time to think about it now. I need to get you out of here."

I was more than happy to go along with that. I let her lead the way through the trees. She was making an effort to go slower for me, but I was still unsteady on my feet and struggled to keep up. I didn't ask her to slow her pace even more, just wished that I could go faster. "Where's Bill?" I asked her breathlessly. There was still yelling, and sometimes I could see flashes of fire far off. I imagined that this was as close as being in the middle of a battlefield that I would ever get.

"He's around here somewhere," she said impatiently with a wave of her hand. She steadied me when I tripped over my own feet. "He wanted to be the first to find you. He's pretty determined for you to trust him again."

"Of course he is," I muttered darkly, and Evelyn shot me a grin. We broke out of the trees, and I was slightly surprised that we were back behind my house. I was kind of expecting for us to go to Bill's, although I suppose I didn't have any real reason to think that.

The scene in front of me was kind of appalling. There were vampires and demons everywhere, entangled with one another. The number of vampires greatly outweighed the number of demons, but from the looks of things it was an equal fight. Fire was being thrown every which way, and there were a couple of bodies lying on the ground, engrossed in flames. "Oh my God." I was hit with nausea, and it made me woozy on my feet. I would have fallen if someone hadn't caught me, and they held me in their arms with my head against their chest. I recognized the muscular arms and cool chest. "Bill," I choked out.

He kissed the top of my head. "She's going into shock," he said, looking at Evelyn. I noticed there were a few rips in his shirt, and dried blood. I knew it wasn't his.

"I am not," I grumbled, but I was ignored.

"We need to get her to the car," Eve replied, putting her hand on my forehead. I don't know what I felt like, but it must have been bad. Then she turned her head slightly, and looked past me. Her fangs popped out with a small click. I realized I had never seen Evelyn's fangs before. "Go right now," she said quietly, still staring at something past me like a lion stared at its prey. "I'll keep them at bay."

Bill took off in an instant, his vampire speed making everything a blur around me. I swallowed and closed my eyes, snuggling deeper into his chest. I was having trouble thinking properly, which also meant I was having difficulty controlling my disability. I could sense the demons and vampires around me. The closest group was a vampire who was outnumbered. "Is Evelyn going to be okay?" I asked, my voice so soft that I doubted even Bill could hear me. But of course he did.

"She'll be fine," he told me. He sounded certain. I don't know if it was just to make me feel better or if he actually believed it. He stopped running, and put his mouth by my ear. "I have to set you down for a second, Sookie." He gently placed my feet on the ground, and leaned me against something cold and metal. He let go, and I slumped down slightly, but I managed to stay on my feet. Curious, I looked at what was keeping me up. A car. It was a very nice car, also, but at the moment my brain couldn't be bothered to come up with its name.

Bill opened the back door, and then picked me up again. He cradled me against him again, leaning into the back seat as he laid me down as gently as possible. But as he set me down my left shoulder was crammed against the leather seat and I cried out. That was enough to trigger the tears again, but I let my lips tremble instead of parting them to make noise. At this rate I was going to have to add dehydration to my already lengthy list of issues.

"I'm sorry," he said, and he sounded pained. Well suck it up, Bill. "Sookie, you need to drink my blood." He bit his wrist and held it out to me but I smacked his hand away.

"No I don't," I growled. I felt like someone had stabbed me in the shoulder, my mouth was still throbbing, and if I had eaten anything recently I would be afraid I might toss it back up. The logical part of me just wanted to feel better – a relief that Bill's blood would undoubtedly bring. But, I wasn't in my most logical mind at the moment. So screw Bill and his blood. I managed to sit up a bit, and I glared at him. The effect was kind of ruined, though, when I saw a shadow looming over his shoulder. I pointed and screamed "Bill!"

A flaming hand clamped down on Bill's shoulder, and he snarled. He turned around, pushing his attacker off him. Both the hand and Bill disappeared in the next instant, and I was left to stare out at the dark. I could hear a scuffle nearby, but I couldn't see anything. I stayed curled up in the back of the strange car, just watching the open back door like something was going to lunge in and get me at any second. It wasn't that far fetched of an idea. At this point I wouldn't be surprised if a troll showed up.

The back door shut unexpectedly and I let out a shriek. The driver's door was the next to open, and the dome light illuminated Evelyn's face as she crawled in. "You need to buckle yourself up, Sookie," she told me, putting the key in the ignition and starting the car. I had just barely managed to click my seatbelt when she put the car in reverse and slammed on the gas, tearing out of my yard like she was in the Daytona 500.

I had a brief memory about a conversation we had before about her lack of time spent in cars. "You can drive, right?" It would be just my luck if we crashed. Eve had said she hadn't been in a car for "years", which to vampires could mean more than two decades. Although, it wasn't like I was going to take over if Eve did admit her driving skills were a bit rusty. I probably wasn't any better choice behind the wheel than she was.

Her hand was behind the headrest of the front passenger's seat, and she was turned around looking out the rear window. "Like riding a bike," she said confidently. We whipped out my driveway, the front of the car sliding around ninety degrees. She shifted into drive and the tires squealed before the car lurched forward eagerly. Apparently she had been good with bikes.

Letting my head lean against the window, I almost passed out right then and there. My body was so sore that all I wanted to do was sleep it off. In fact I was dozing when I remembered something. My eyes snapped open. "Where's Bill?" I asked her.

She was focused on the road, which I was thankful for, but she did toss a glance at me via the rearview mirror. "He's back at your house," she said.

"We have to go back for him," I told her, making sure my voice was strong. I couldn't just leave him there with the demons. As much resentment as I felt, I did not want Bill to die.

Evelyn rolled her eyes. "He's fine." Somehow she didn't sound convincing enough for me.

I unbuckled my seatbelt and tried to crawl to the front seat. Evelyn took a hand off the steering wheel and blocked my way. I glared at her. "We are not leaving him there!" I said, pushing against her arm. It was like a steel barrier and didn't move in the slightest.

"Sookie, Bill is fine. He killed the demon that attacked him. The other vampires got a handle on the rest of them. He's just staying behind to make sure no one follows us." She was watching me in the rearview mirror.

I stared at her for a long time, and eventually settled back in my seat. I was drowsy and needed rest, but my brain refused to stop working. "Other vampires?" I asked, my tone heavy. "They were sent by the Queen?" She must be a bit peeved that Bill hadn't delivered me like she wanted. I wondered if he would have, if Eric hadn't revealed the truth. I had been suspicious of him, sure, but I never imagined anything so severe when it came to confirming my trust issues with him.

"We'll talk about that in a minute," Eve said. "Right now you need to tell me where you want to go."

I was sure I had a stupid expression on my face. "What?" Whether it be from the lack of sleep or the mental effect the pain I was in had on my thoughts or both, somehow what she said hadn't registered with me correctly. I wanted to be back at my house in my own damn bed.

"We need to get you somewhere safe. Somewhere that you cannot be found for at least a few more days. It can't be Bill's or your brother's," she said, shooting down my first two thoughts to cross my mind instantly. "Who do you trust besides Bill and your family?"

I started to tell her that I didn't trust Bill anymore, but decided that wasn't important at the moment. Somewhere safe? It didn't seem like anywhere was really safe for me anymore. I thought for quite some time, which I found to be rather pitiful. "Sam Merlotte, my boss," I said finally. I regretted bringing him into this, but that was the only name that I could think of with the keyword being trust.

"He's too close to your home. They'll find you," she said instantly. Well so much for that. She looked back at me. "Who else?"

I spent a little more time thinking, but came up empty. Actually that was a lie, but I didn't want to say the name. "I guess I don't really know, then," I told her, frowning.

Evelyn was quiet for a long time, paying attention to her driving. She was still going very fast, taking turns at an alarming rate. If I had been my normal self, I would have told her to slow down. "Can I tell you what I know about trusting others, Sookie?" she asked me, glancing at the rearview mirror to see me nodding. Her eyes settled back on the road. "It's unsafe to truly trust all of your friends and those close to you –" my mind instantly went to Bill "- but those you do trust, are the ones you know will always do what's best for you and hold you over themselves. They will not always do it in the way that you want them too, but they do it nonetheless," she said. She fell silent then, allowing me time to chew that over. And I did for quite some time.

After a while of thinking, I knew where we had to go. "Eric Northman," I said with small reluctance. "Take me to Shreveport." I wouldn't say that he fit all those things Evelyn said, especially the bit about holding me over himself, but he was the closest match. He'd at least make an effort to protect me.

She seemed to be expecting that answer, and she pulled out a cell phone from her pocket. She dialed a number, and then held it to her ear. "Give me Eric," she said. She was silent for a second. "I know he's not sleeping, don't give me that. Tell him it's Evelyn and I have Sookie." Another silence, and I could faintly hear Eric's voice on the other line when he answered. He was talking very fast, and he was not happy. "For God's sake Northman, we don't have time for this," she growled at him. "I'm bringing her to you now. She's fine. They banged her up. Her arm's broken and her shoulder seems to have suffered damage. I think she might have a broken jaw." A pause. "Hang on." She took the phone away from her ear and reached back towards me. "He wants to talk to you."

I took the phone and put it to my ear. I waited. I knew he could hear me breathing – I sounded like a sickly old man. But the other end of the line was deadly silent (har har), and eventually I got tired of it. "Eric," I said hoarsely. "What do you want?" A better question, why was he making me talk unnecessarily?

"You sound horrible," he said. He was angry. I thought I could detect worry also. Maybe I was just starting to hallucinate.

"Gee, you really know how to make a girl feel special," I murmured. "Is that all you wanted? To tell me how crappy I sound? Because if it is, then screw you, Eric. I could be sleeping right now."

"You can screw me later darling," he said, but his voice didn't have that intentional sexiness to it when he made passes at me. The natural bit was still there, though. "I have to say, lover, you have procured yourself quite a protector." It was supposed to be a compliment, but he didn't make it sound like one.

"Yeah, well, I guess I'm just lucky," I said. I coughed a little bit and rubbed my throat. I sure didn't feel lucky.

"Be careful around her, Sookie," Eric warned me. "She hasn't had human blood in years. If she even gets a taste…" he left the rest to my imagination, which wasn't working all that well so his words didn't really take.

"Eric, she's fine. I'm fine. We'll be there in a little while. I'll see you soon." I hung up before he could even reply. I handed the phone back to Eve and shivered slightly. "Can you turn the heat up?" I asked politely, pressing myself into the seat a little more.

Eve reached for the knob, and I heard the heat kick on. A second later, I felt it and leaned toward the vent. "Sookie, do you know why the Queen of Louisiana would be at your house tonight?" she asked, staring straight ahead. The rain was pouring down, but she was still driving as fast as ever.

"Not a clue," I replied, shaking my head. "Why, was she there?" That would explain the vampire extras, and the vamp that Evelyn had killed. It was a bit of an odd time to appear, and for a second I thought that maybe Bill had called her. Maybe he wanted to complete his mission after all and thought that it'd be easier for her to take me in the middle of all the chaos. I told myself I was just being evil minded, but I didn't totally believe it.

"Not in the flesh but those were her minions. They seemed to have been protecting you."

They had a funny way of showing it. "Well that was nice of them. What about the one who grabbed me by the throat? Was it just a love squeeze?" I asked irritably, running my fingers over my neck. The area was sore, and I had a feeling it was going to bruise. To the unknowing eye I probably looked like I just got in a car wreck or endured the wildest sex of my life. Hopefully I wouldn't be running into too many unaware civilians tonight.

"I don't know," Evelyn admitted. "He wasn't very old. Maybe he couldn't handle his impulses. The Queen wouldn't want you dead, though. And considering he seemed intent on breaking your neck, I think death was the best thing for him." She didn't go into detail, but I could guess that the Queen wouldn't be very happy with him. I could only imagine the punishments.

"Eric isn't going to be happy to see me," she said suddenly. "It's possible that we might get into a bit of a…scuffle."

"Why?" I grumbled, closing my eyes. They were too heavy to keep open anymore. I fought off the intense urge to sleep, because that would just be rude. Plus, I wanted to know the relationship between Eric and Evelyn. "Why doesn't he trust you?"

"Because I am Godric's maker."

The face of the old vampire flashed in my mind and I smiled a bit. Eric's maker had been tortured with all of his wrongdoings for far too long and met the sun to put it to an end. Godric had always been kind, and gentle with me. But I knew he was capable of hurting – he had shown it in Dallas when he killed Gabe. Granted, he had done it to keep me from harm. I knew that he had done reprehensible things in his past, but all I had seen from him was compassion. My smile grew a little bit wider. "That makes sense," I said. "Why would Eric hate you for that?" Eric's love for Godric had changed my opinion of him.

"Because I didn't keep Godric from meeting the sun. I was in Dallas when he died." I could hear the grief in her voice. "Eric knows I was there. As his maker, I could have ordered Godric off that roof much like he ordered Eric, but I did nothing," she said softly. She didn't sound sure if she had made the right decision or not.

"I'm sorry," I whispered. "That must have been hard."

"You really are something else, Sookie Stackhouse," she said, shaking her head in bewilderment. She was quiet, and for a while I thought she was done talking. But after a few minutes, she spoke again. "When I changed Godric, he was a slave who had suffered much. He had so much anger. I channeled that anger and let him loose on the world. We killed humans without cause – men, women, and children. He had been young, and able to be molded. I shaped him into the killer he was. But I guided him and protected him – more than what he had been given as a human. He loved me for it. Parent, sibling, child – we were these things to each other. He left me centuries later and we parted ways. He created Eric during this time, and I saw him little since." She stopped, whether because she thought that was all I needed to know or just couldn't continue, I didn't know.

I felt bad, but I had to know the rest of the story. I had never known much about Godric, and even less about Evelyn. "So, how did he change?" I asked, leaning forward slightly even though it hurt to do so. "He didn't even wanna hurt a fly when I met him."

"I have a theory," she said, smiling a little bit. "After they're changed, vampires lose their humanity at a very quick rate. Everything we once were is replaced by an animalistic need for human blood, and most of our lives revolve around it." She licked her lips, and I thought of Eric telling me how long it's been since she stopped drinking human blood. "But eventually, we all come full circle and arrive back at our humanity. It just takes time. Godric reached that point before I did. I was still drinking human blood regularly even though I didn't have too. I visited him a few years ago, and was surprised to learn that Godric's feelings on the human race had changed drastically. It touched me." She was fighting back tears now, I could tell. "He respected the humans and strongly believed them to be equal to vampires. He was slow to convince me to go to his way of thinking, but as he evolved, so did I."

She glanced back at me. I must have looked really bad, because she frowned at me. "You need to sleep, Sookie. I'll wake you when we get there."

I thought I could hardly sleep after the history lesson I had just been given, but I lay back against the seat to appease her. "I don't think Russell Edgington will ever act human again," I said confidently, closing my eyes.

"He won't be alive long enough for us to find out," she replied simply. "Now, sleep. You need it."

Despite not thinking I would be able to with Godric and Evelyn's past circling in my head, I fell into unconsciousness in a matter of seconds.


	12. Chapter 12

**AN: I want to thank you guys for your continuing support. I love reading the reviews and seeing that people have put me on their story alerts. It really means a lot, and I'm very happy you're enjoying the story so far! We see more of Pam in this chapter, and I tried my best to do her justice. I love her character.**

I didn't dream of much. There was no actual dream scene, just flashes of certain things. Most of them were faces. I saw Luke, Evelyn, Bill, Kali, and the vampire who tried to strangle me. Eric's face popped up a lot as well. It was almost like a slideshow, and with each face I felt a particular emotion. Fear, hate, relief, lust (guess who that was for). By the time I woke up again, all the feelings were jumbled and I was disoriented. The car was stopped. I tried to open my eyes, but they weren't quite ready to open yet. In fact, despite just having a nap, I didn't feel any more refreshed. I heard voices outside, and from the sounds of it the conversation was pretty heated. I just wanted them to shut up.

The back door next to me opened, and someone reached over to undo my seatbelt. For a second, I was scared again. But then I felt arms swooping under my knees and around my back, lifting me very gently. My head rested on their shoulder. I inhaled through my nose, and then exhaled slowly through my mouth. "You smell like you just jumped in an ocean," I told Eric. I just knew it was him. I wrapped my arm around his neck so it wouldn't get crushed between our bodies. It was the first time I had ever associated a vampire with an actual smell. Usually they didn't smell like much of anything to me.

His grip on me tightened a bit, and he held me closer to him. I didn't mind it. I felt very safe, which was a feeling I have had a considerable lack of lately. Another wave of shivers went through me and I snuggled into him. You were in pretty bad shape when you clung onto a vampire like a barnacle to get warm. "She's not fine," he said to someone, practically snarling.

"She's not dead." Evelyn was talking now. She sounded much calmer than Eric, but there was an edge to it. "What would you have liked me to do? I suppose I could have given her some of my blood, but I'm sure you wouldn't have liked that."

"I wouldn't have liked that," I grumbled, wondering why we were just standing outside in the cold. I didn't want every vampire I came into contact with to have a blood bond with me. I didn't even want a blood bond with the vampires I already had. Evelyn was nice and I found I trusted her more and more, but I really didn't want her to have access to my emotions and location. And I _really_ didn't want to start having dreams about her. I could barely handle Eric.

I made myself open my eyes, practically having to peel them open with my fingers. Eric's arms were wrapped around me protectively. His jaw was taut, and his eyes were fixated on someone in front of him. I turned my head, looking at Evelyn. She stood on the other side of the car (which I now recognized as a very nice BMW). She had that same look on her face that she had before Bill had run off with me back at my house. And I had become very good at recognizing the predatory faces of Eric Northman. This wasn't good.

"Pam," Eric said, his hand tightening its grip on my thigh momentarily. "Please take Sookie." Pam was beside him in a second, dressed in a pink suit with a matching hat. Her choices in clothing had always surprised me.

"No," I said, taking my good arm and wrapping it around Eric's back. Both he and Pam looked surprised, and slightly amused. Well good. So long as they got a good chuckle out of this, my life was complete. I stared up at Eric. "It hurts to move. Giving me to Pam means more pain on my end, and I think I've endured quite enough for one day. I'm not going anywhere." I was surprisingly confident in ordering this one thousand year old vampire to do something. I kept my arm around him as tightly as I could manage, keeping my head on his shoulder but tilted upwards. Pam was still poised to take me, looking questioningly at her master. "I'm not going anywhere," I repeated again, unfortunately not as strongly as the first time.

Eric stared at me for a long time, and I tried to process all of the emotions on his face. Amusement, lust, bewilderment, anger; I liked to think the last one was because of Evelyn and not me, selfish as that was. He glanced from me to Evelyn, but then his blue eyes settled on my face. Without a word, he turned and walked with me. His eyes didn't leave me for a minute.

I had assumed that we were at Fangtasia, but that wasn't the case. Instead it was a house. Looking up, I watched as Eric carried me into a garage. It was big enough for two cars, and possibly a motorcycle. I could see the gleaming corvette in one of the spots. "Where are we?" I asked him, my voice slightly muffled because my mouth was angled into his chest.

"My home," he told me, taking me inside. Somehow I hadn't even thought of the possibility Eric had a home. That was rather silly of me, I supposed, and if I weren't in such a bad state I would have paid more attention to what it looked like. How would a man like Eric decorate his house?

"Where's Eve?" I asked next, moving my head a bit. Really, he was pretty comfortable. I wouldn't ever admit that out loud, of course, but it was a silent pleasure. He was hard and smooth, and oddly enough slightly warm against my skin. I was cold as all get out, although I wasn't quite sure why.

Eric growled. Obviously he didn't like that question. "She's not allowed in my home. She left." He was walking up stairs now. I protested her not being with me, but Eric quickly shushed me. "She wouldn't have left if she didn't know you were safe," he said impatiently. I felt his thumb stroke my back. "You are safe now, Sookie."

He took me in a room, and set me down on a bed. It was the biggest bed I had ever seen in my life. And it was comfortable, too. I rubbed my cheek against the silk sheets and practically purred in delight. It felt like I was lying in heaven, and you couldn't have pried me from that bed with a crowbar. So when Eric grabbed me again, I made a noise of protest. He just moved me so my back was against the headboard, and then scooted me over a bit so he could sit next to me. He picked up my hands, and I noticed my knuckles were bloody and scabbed. Next he ran his hands up my left arm. I drew back a bit, afraid his probing was going to send a spasm of pain through me, but his fingers remained feathers on my skin. I watched him make his assessment with interest, seeing as this was the first time I was able to look at my injuries in detail. His hand stopped when he reached my bicep, eyebrows furrowing. A bone in my arm was jutted out at a weird angle, stretching the skin to its full extent. The whole area was bruised a sickly yellow and purple, going all the way up to my shoulder.

Next, his fingers lightly touched my neck, and I flinched reflexively. "Someone grabbed your neck," he said, his eyes fixed on my face again. They were clouded over slightly, and his muscles were tense. He seemed to know that it had been a vampire. "Did they bite you?" he asked, already examining my neck for evidence of puncture wounds.

"No," I murmured. My head lolled back slightly, and Eric gripped the back of my neck to keep it steady. "Sorry," I said, embarrassed by my lack of control over my motor functions. My body just felt like giving out on me. I wasn't going to let it, though. Not yet.

He inspected my jaw, licking his fingers when some of my blood got on them. I saw his pupils dilate slightly, and I groaned inwardly. Normally I would have gotten some sick pleasure out of Eric's arousal, but I could safely say that I was not in the mood. Luckily, he seemed to get that now wasn't the time, because he just continued with his examination. He undid the bandage that Kila had done, frowning at my burn. He said something to himself in another language that I assumed wasn't very complimenting towards demons. After all that, he leaned back and said "You're rather beaten up, lover."

I wanted to punch him. "No, you think?" I asked sarcastically, rolling my eyes. I kind of figured that one out for myself. "I'm glad you're here to state the obvious for me, Eric. I really don't know what I'd do without you." Not have disturbing sexual dreams, have a boyfriend, and have a sense of sanity, just to name a few.

"You'd probably die," he said casually. He put his wrist to his mouth and I heard him bite. Then he put his wound in front of me. "You need to drink."

I pushed his arm away. "No," I said, turning my head away from him.

He grabbed my chin, which hurt, and turned me towards him. He put his wrist in front of my mouth. "Yes," he said. He stared at me intently, rubbing his wrist against my mouth. I felt his blood on my lips, but I resisted the urge to lick them.

I managed to get away from him, pushing myself across the bed with my legs. Although in the process I had banged my injured arm against the headboard, and I had to literally bite my tongue to keep from crying out. My pride had picked a really bad time to kick in. But there was no going back now. And besides, I really didn't want Eric's blood – or any vampire's blood. I was in pain and about as exhausted as I had ever been, but I had other options than to take a drink out of the undead fountain. "Just take me to a hospital, Eric. I can take care of it." Doctors would probably be wondering what the hell I had done to myself to acquire such a vast variety of injuries, but I could worry about that later. Preferably after I was given a huge amount of morphine.

Eric snorted. "You and what health insurance?" he asked me snidely. Going for a more logical route, he said "We don't have time to get you to a hospital. Your arm is broken and your shoulder probably is too. Your jaw isn't but I imagine it hurts a lot. And you have a second-degree burn. Uncountable bruises and scratches." He stared at me. "Plus you are going into shock. You're cold and pale. You need to be healed now."

Well, didn't he know how to put things in perspective? When he spelled out my injures like that, it made me realize how long of a list I had. Still, I wasn't just going to clamp on like a leech. I closed my eyes and rubbed my forehead. Now I was getting a headache. Wasn't that just perfect. "I'm not going into shock," I said. For some reason that insulted me more than his jab at my lack of health insurance. I had seen a lot of things and had handled them pretty well, in my opinion. And I had definitely been beaten up before and hadn't gone into shock because of it. It wasn't happening now, either.

Eric was in front of me before I could even blink. The tip of his nose was almost touching mine. Uncontrollably I felt my pulse quicken. He stared at me for a long time, his eyes icy and piercing. I held his gaze, not allowing myself to even look away for an instant. I felt like I would lose this game if I did. And I was sick of losing.

Eventually he leaned back a bit, sitting in front of me. He looked down, then grabbed my hand gently. "At least let me heal your hands," he said. "I don't want them to scar."

I thought about it for a while, and then I gave a stiff nod.

He put his lips on my knuckles. He kissed each one gently, his fingers gently running across my arm in a soothing motion. His tongue ran over my skin, massaging the open wounds in a circular motion that felt a lot better than it should have. He took his time, and the feeling was so great that I couldn't make myself mind. By the time he was done with just one hand, I wasn't even cold anymore. In fact my face was flushed, and I had to readjust myself a bit before he started on the other one. When he let one hand go and reached for the other one, I could see the smug curve of his mouth. It was safe to assume he was doing this on purpose, which just made me more in awe of the talent of that man's mouth. He could probably rule the world by just using his lips.

I made it a point to closely examine my healed hand while he worked on the other one, not sure if I just needed something to concentrate on or if I was looking for a reason to prolong this situation. But my hand was indeed healed, the skin smooth and perfect once more. When he was finished with my second hand, I was feeling pretty good, all things considered. "Can I go to a hospital now?" I slurred.

"No," Eric replied, and I scrunched my eyebrows at him. "You need to sleep. And get cleaned up. I'll send Pam in to help you." He stood up.

I started to say I didn't want a bath or shower, but then I thought about it. I was covered in dirt and blood, and the warm water would feel good. Of course, I did have a broken arm and I needed to get it looked at. But Eric seemed to be willing to let the bathing come first, so I could probably survive through it. "Alright," I said, nodding. I had some reserves about Pam "helping" me, but I didn't really have another option. I definitely didn't want Eric to do it, and I wasn't sure how much I could get done with one arm.

He left, and a minute later Pam sauntered in, a hot pink vision. "Come on, let's get this done," she said, coming to my side and helping me off the bed. She kept an arm locked around my waist as we walked into the bathroom. Why did Eric even have a bathroom?

She set me down on the seat of the toilet. "Start getting undressed," she said, patting my head like I was a child. She walked over to a giant bathtub and drew the water.

I tried to take my shorts off first. I fiddled with the button, but it was a slow process with just one hand. My fingers were clumsy and I grew frustrated quickly. Eventually I gave up on that whole ordeal and tried for my shirt instead. That was a much easier task, but when it came to slipping my injured arm out of its sleeve, that took a minute. I was as delicate as possible, but with the immobility of my one arm and the awkwardness of my other one, I still managed to move it in a way it did not agree with. I gave a sharp gasp, letting the shirt fall to the ground.

Pam was next to me then, spending a bit of time to look me over. "Don't you look delectable," she said, licking her lips. That Pam. Her eyes traveled down, and she lifted an eyebrow. "Having some trouble with our bottoms, are we? I'll help you with that." The way she said it made me feel awkward, but she didn't really give me time to dwell on it. She set me on my feet in a single fluid motion, her hands traveling to the waistband of my shorts. She undid the button with ease, and let them fall to the ground. She spent a bit more time drinking me in.

"Er, Pam, can we move on with this?" I asked her, crossing my arms over my chest self-consciously. This bath was not going to be nearly as relaxing as I hoped it would be if Pam was going to keep this up.

"Of course," she said. She crouched down, untying my shoes and taking off my socks.

She started to reach for my panties but I stopped her. "I got it from here, Pam," I assured her, smiling nervously.

She made her disappointment evident on her face, but nodded. Just because she wasn't partaking in the removal of my under things didn't mean she wasn't going to watch. I had my thumb under the side of my panties when I noticed a towel hanging next to me. I grabbed it, wrapping myself in it (with a lot of difficulty, mind you – I never realized how much I took the use of two functional arms for granted). Then, I proceeded to fully undress, feeling better about having the fluffy towel between my naked body and Pam's leering eyes. I left my panties and bra on the floor with the rest of my clothes. Somehow there was blood on them too. I clutched my towel around me like it was my lifeline, shifting awkwardly under Pam's gaze.

"Bath," Pam said simply in her signature drawl, pointing to the tub. I realized that in Pam's presence I either felt like I was being violated in some subtle fashion, or that I was a naughty pet of hers.

I walked over to the tub, but didn't get in right away. I glanced back at Pam uncertainly, wondering if she would listen if I asked her to leave. Probably not. I put my hand in the tub, dragging my fingers over the surface of the water. It was warm, almost stingingly so, and it felt amazing. I dropped my towel, sliding into the water as fast as I could manage without causing any extra pain to myself. I was still in a lot of pain, but I was determined to have this bath. I would wash the blood and tears off my body, and get new clothes, so I didn't walk into the hospital looking like some sort of savage. I felt that normalcy was key, which was too bad, because I obviously had a problem being normal.

I sat in the middle of the giant tub, which I thought could rival the size of a small pool. I didn't lean against the sides in fear I would agitate my injuries more, and I wasn't sure how much more of a beating I could take. I turned my attention on the water, and how great it felt. It kind of muffled the pain like putting your hands over your ears muffled noise; it was still there, but felt much more distant than it had been before. I dipped my head back, getting my hair wet. I rubbed my face tenderly, seeing a mixture of water and blood rolling down my hands and mixing with the tub water. I must have looked like a cannibal.

A washcloth was thrown in the tub, splashing me. I moved back, startled, and then looked at Pam's smirking face. "As much as I enjoy watching you touch yourself, I think that will help with the cleaning process," she said. I dropped my hand beside me instantly, looking at her with my mouth slightly agape. After a second I grabbed the wet cloth, lathering it up with a bar of soap and starting to scrub my neck. I could feel the bruise of the handprint, and I winced slightly.

"Pam," I said, looking at her. She was leaning against the sink, watching the process of me bathing intently. She raised an eyebrow at the mention of her name, but didn't move her gaze to my face. "Why don't Eric and Eve like each other?" Evelyn told me the back-story, but I had a feeling there was more to it than that.

Pam clicked her tongue. "That's a story you'll just have to wonder about," she said. She squeezed some shampoo in her hands, and started to massage my scalp. Anxious as I was, there was no denying that it felt pretty damn good. "Let's just say her involvement is going to cause quite a stir."

For the rest of my bath time, we didn't talk. I chewed on the little information she was willing to share. My mind was so occupied that Pam ended up having to give me instructions. She seemed to enjoy the process just fine. When I got out of the tub she gave me an appreciative once over before wrapping the towel around me. "Such a shame," she sighed, walking out of the bathroom and motioning for me to go with her. I wasn't quite sure what that meant, and I really didn't want to ask.

Back in Eric's room, I sat down on the bed. There was a fresh pair of panties (if you could call them that) lying next to me. They were black lace, and see through. I tucked the top the towel in, puffing out my chest a little bit hoping that would keep it from falling down. I pulled the underwear on, wondering how women could possibly feel okay wearing these. Perhaps for a romantic evening I would be more understanding, but that was definitely not what I had in mind. Still, it was better than nothing.

Pam came back with one of Eric's t-shirts, a simple black one. It hung over her arm and she stood in front of me, waiting. "We don't have any bras in your size. Sorry," Pam said, sounding very delighted and not sorry at all. I was kind of wondering why they had access to bras at all. Did Eric keep them as some sort of souvenir from his past conquests? I decided to ask Pam, because now I was worried about the underwear I was wearing. She laughed at me, even more so when she saw my pursed lips and crinkled forehead. "I keep some of my things here for convenience. Those," she pointed at my nether regions, which were thankfully still covered by the towel "are mine. Don't worry, I haven't worn them in quite some time. Although I might have to change that once you're done with them." She grinned at me. "But you're more well endowed as far as cleavage is concerned. So you'll just have to do without."

I just nodded. So I was wearing Pam's panties, and would soon be wearing Eric's shirt. Oh man, if Bill could see me now he'd be having an absolute fit. I smiled a bit at the thought. I dropped the towel, giving modesty the middle finger, and allowed Pam to help me. Getting the shirt on was a lot harder than it had been for me to take it off, even with Pam's assistance. Moving my broken arm more than a couple centimeters in any direction resulted in severe pain. It took a good twenty minutes to get the shirt on, and I had tears streaming down my face again by the time it was over.

"We should have just stopped at the panties," Pam said, shaking her head. She gave me an admiring look. "Although that shirt does flatter you quite well for a men's shirt."

How the hell Eric wore this shirt, I didn't know. It was big enough to fit his body for sure, but it must cling to him like a second skin. Given that I had breasts and he obviously didn't, the shirt seemed to practically melt into me. It left about as much to the imagination as my naked body did, although I supposed it didn't really matter because Pam had gotten a full look anyway. I could feel ashamed about that later. The shirt did manage to go down to mid-thigh, so long as I didn't stretch. I leaned back so I was lying on some pillows. I stayed on my right side, but overall I was pretty comfortable.

"When are we going to the hospital?" I asked.

"You can talk to Eric about it. I'll go get him," Pam answered. She left the room, but returned in less than a minute. She was holding a glass of water. "Drink this." She handed the glass out to me. "Eric will be along shortly."

I took the glass, slowly taking it to my lips and taking a small sip. As soon as I had a taste I realized just how thirsty I was, and I chugged the whole glass. Water had never tasted better to me than it did at that moment. "Can I have another glass?" I asked her, a bit sheepish. I handed the empty glass to her when she nodded.

"Be right back," she promised with a wink, walking out of the room.

**AN: Just a little teaser so you guys can have an idea of what to expect in upcoming chapters: more Pam/Sookie awkwardness, Eric/Sookie fluff (possibly lemons – haven't decided yet), and that Eric/Evelyn "scuffle." There's more, but the rest will just have to be a surprise! **


	13. Chapter 13

**AN: I need to apologize to you guys for taking so long with this. I had some personal issues and just got my muse back for writing. Hopefully I can get back into updating on a regular basis, or at least semi-regular. Secondly, I've upped the rating to Mature. Right now, it's just cause I explain how a pair of boobs react when a six foot Viking is within a ten foot radius. So it's not too bad. Either way, don't say I didn't warn you**

When I woke up, my whole body felt sore. Blinking a couple of times, I couldn't remember where I was for a few seconds. I sat up slowly, gritting my teeth as I did. I looked around the room, only realizing then everything that happened. I bent my good arm back to scratch the nape of my neck, turning my head slightly, and almost jumped out of the bed when I saw someone next to me. Eric was lying on his back, eyes closed, hands resting at his sides. I watched him for a while, waiting to see if his chest would rise with an intake of breath or if a muscle would twitch involuntarily. Neither of these things happened. He was completely motionless; dead.

I debated waking him up and telling him to take me to the hospital now. I had both been cleaned and slept, and now I was ready to be healed. I'd have to wear a cast for a couple of weeks I was sure, but that was doable. I had enough money in my savings to skip work for a while, although it pained me to do so. Of course, I didn't know if Eric would even let me leave. My house just didn't seem like a safe place at the moment.

I pulled myself closer to him, and I waved my hand in front of his face. He didn't move a muscle. I stared at him for a while, and then gently set my fingers on his cheek. He didn't stir. I moved them to run over his closed eyelids, then down the slope of his nose. I outlined his lips, then moving to drag my fingers along his jaw line. I watched him like a hawk as I did this, looking for any signs that he would suddenly wake up and catch me. After a minute, I examined his neck in the same way. The covers were pulled up to his shoulders, so to go any further I would have to remove the sheet. I decided I wasn't going to do that. I was already acting a bit creepy as it was. I withdrew my hand, opting to just tuck a piece of stray hair behind his ear and then be done with it. Then I would wander around and see if I could find something to eat, or at least know what time it was.

Pulling my hand back, I noticed there was blood on my fingers. Bewildered, I quickly looked over myself. I wasn't bleeding. My arm was still in an unnatural position and it still hurt like hell, but there was no blood. I looked at Eric then, and I noticed blood was coming out of his ear. Oh, hell.

"Trying to molest me in my sleep, are we?" came his sultry voice, and suddenly his eyes were open and staring at me intently. The tired look on his face told me it was definitely day, but I could see by the look in his eyes that he had something else on his mind other than sleep.

I just stared at him, not knowing what to say. There was no good way to explain why you were intimately touching someone's face while you thought they were asleep. And if I said impulse had gotten the best of me, he'd encourage other impulses as well. Ones that ran through my mind because of the way he was staring at me.

He sat up, moving towards me so I was pinned between him and the headboard. He was wearing blue silk boxers, which I was thankful for. Eric had struck me as a person to go commando while sleeping, and I wasn't quite sure how I would have reacted if I were confronted with _all_ of him at the same time. He put both of his hands on either side of my face. "My turn," he said softly, his fingers running over my hairline. They slowly crept over my forehead. "It's only fair," he added, even though I was nowhere close to protesting. He massaged my eyes, then my cheekbones. My breathing stopped when his thumb pressed against my bottom lip. His fangs were out partially, and he put his hands down. I felt my heart sink, but it quickly picked back up again when he decided to keep exploring with his lips. He took my ear lobe in between his teeth for a second before moving down my jaw line, using a mix of lips, tongue, and teeth in a full frontal attack against my will. I had to say, it was working pretty well.

He stayed away from my lips, his mouth connecting with every other part of me. He kissed my eyes, my nose, and both of my cheeks. It seemed like he was testing the waters to me; waiting for me to offer up some sort of resistance or restraint. I realized it was because I normally did at this point. But, for the life of me, I couldn't even think of one single protest. He seemed to come to the same conclusion shortly after I did, because it was at that point that he grabbed my bottom lip with his teeth, sucking gently. His fangs pierced my skin but didn't break it, and I instinctively parted my lips. He took the opportunity to reposition himself, his tongue rubbing against my own. His arms wrapped around my waist, pulling me to him. I wrapped my legs around his waist, sitting in his lap. My hand was tangled in his hair, and I bit his lip. He growled, pushing me down so I was on my back. He let some of his weight on me, kissing my neck and collarbone in a barely controlled frenzy.

"Eric," I breathed, and then he bit me.

My eyes flew open. Goddamn Eric and these stupid dreams. I put both hands over my eyes, as if I could no longer see the dream if I just pressed my palms hard enough against my eyes. I propped myself on my elbows, glancing down at my shirt – Eric's shirt – and noticing that my body had reacted to the dream. Great, just great. What was even better was that I recognized a long, muscled arm draped over my waist. Eric was lying on his side just a couple of inches away from me. He wasn't uncomfortably close to me, although with the remnants of my dream still intact I didn't think he could get close _enough_. His eyes were closed, and for a wild moment I considered reenacting my dream. Would it happen exactly like it did in my head? I shook my head at the ridiculousness.

Instead I stared at the arm Eric had over me. Even through the fabric of his shirt, I could feel the coolness of his body. His fingers lay lazily on the sheets on the other side of me. Boy, his arm was long. It wasn't restraining me in any way, either; I could easily slip out of his grasp if I so desired. It reminded me of a security blanket. That arm didn't really do anything for me other than give me a peace of mind, but feeling safe was an invaluable feeling. And right now, I felt safe.

I dozed off again for a couple more minutes, just enjoying the downtime. I didn't have to get up and do anything – I didn't have to work, go do errands, or shop. Granted, this was all because I was being pursued by the ever-persistent Russell Edgington. But I would take small pleasures where I could get them. Especially after the dream I just had. My thoughts about pleasures and unfortunately how Eric Northman could deliver them were interrupted when I realized something. I moved my left arm cautiously. It moved with ease and without even the slightest bit of pain. Looking at it, I saw it was completely repaired. The bone was no longer at an extreme angle. I expected my jaw next, moving it from side to side. That too, was pain free. My burn was also gone.

Thoroughly confused, I slipped out of bed, trying my best not to disturb the Viking next to me. I walked into the bathroom, standing in front of the mirror above the sink. I gasped at the sight of myself. Now, I know I wasn't the prettiest thing last night. In fact, I was certain that I looked like a cave woman. Even after cleaning myself up with Pam being an embarrassingly willing assistant, I hadn't exactly been in tip-top shape. But looking at myself in the mirror, there was a much different story. My hair was wrapped around my face in light, brilliant waves. My skin was practically glowing, and my green eyes had taken on a sudden flare. Even braless in a t-shirt, I looked like I was a model. I gaped at myself for a while, until an epiphany came and dropped on me like a sack of potatoes.

I was so pissed I'm surprised smoke wasn't coming out of my ears as I stomped back into the bedroom. I grabbed a pillow and hurled it at Eric. "You gave me your blood!" I yelled at him. I wasn't sure what time it was, but I didn't really care. He could just do without some freaking sleep for a while, the stupid bastard.

Having a pillow, such a soft and flexible object, wouldn't have been very gratifying to see hit Eric – but it would have helped. I wasn't even granted that, oh no, because Eric sat up and caught the pillow in his hands like he had been expecting it. He tossed it back on the bed, and much to my disgust, he was laughing. In no way, under any circumstance, did I find this the least bit amusing. It just made me angrier that he did.

"I didn't know you were a fan of pillow fights, lover. That would make for delightful foreplay," he said, still chuckling. He gave me a mischievous grin. He was just set on making this volcano erupt.

"I never wanted your blood, you stupid high handed asshole!" I snarled, my hands balled into tight fists. I stomped my foot. It was childish, but I didn't care. If I could strangle Eric, I would. "You said you would take me to the hospital." I glared at him, deeply wishing that looks could kill at that moment. Or at least cause extreme discomfort. He just kept looking at me with a stupid grin on his stupidly gorgeous face.

"I did no such thing," he replied evenly, obviously getting a kick out of my reaction. "You assumed I would take you to the hospital after I let you bathe. You asked Pam again to go afterwards, she retrieved me to discuss it further with you, but you were already asleep." His smile got bigger. "You're very sexy when you're angry. The vampire blood also compliments you nicely."

I was seething. I was mad at Eric for giving me his blood against my will, at Pam for her lesbian weirdness last night, and at Eve for dropping me off with the Viking. I paced, glaring at him as he lay comfortably on his bed. His eyes followed me with interest. "I hate you," I said. I felt a pang in my gut, which clearly told me I was lying, but I kept a solid face. My body had no say in this fight; it would only betray me.

"Oh yes, you sounded so full of hate while you were moaning my name in your sleep," he countered. He raised an eyebrow. "I'm very interested in knowing what you were dreaming about, by the way. It sounded quite pleasurable." He showed me his fangs. "Would you like to know what I dreamed about?" He asked in a voice that made me weak in the knees.

Stupid blood bond.

"Did it involve you screaming in agony?" I asked with fake sweetness.

The edge of his mouth curved upward. "No, but those who weren't in the room might think that you were."

I felt my cheeks redden. I sighed deeply, running my fingers through my hair. It felt so soft and thick that I couldn't keep myself from doing it again. I had to admit, I was feeling pretty damn good. _Doesn't matter_, I told myself. _He doesn't get to stick his blood in me whenever he darn well feels like it._ I turned around, noticing the glass on the night table. I clearly remembered giving that back to Pam last night after she had given it to me. I also remembered the slightly tangy taste. I whirled on Eric. "Did you _drug_ me?"

"You needed some sleep. I mixed a pill in your drink to speed the process along," he said calmly. The infuriating thing about Eric was that he was bluntly honest. It was a quality that I respected him for at the same time, but that didn't mean I was any less mad.

I huffed. "Is there anything else you did without my consent?"

I was given a very Eric-like smile. "No, but I can think of a lot of things we could do with your very eager consent."

I saw him shift slightly, giving me a look that I knew all too well. I gave him the stink eye. "Don't you –"

I couldn't quite remember what I was planning to threaten him with, but the words were taken out of my mouth when I was suddenly picked up. In the next instant my back was on the bed, and Eric was on top of me. I tried to push him away, but he pinned my hands above my head. He managed to hold both wrists with one hand, while the other rested on my hip. His head lingered just above mine, and he was giving me a look so smoldering that I temporarily forgot my name. He pushed my shirt up with his free hand until my belly button was exposed.

"Eric, stop it," I told him. My voice was a little more breathless than I would have liked. I also enjoyed his hand, now stroking my side gently, a lot more than I would have liked. I stared straight into his eyes, not being able to find the will to look away. I could feel his lust seeping into me, or maybe my lust was just building at an astonishing rate. My body leaned toward his hand as if it were a magnet. I licked my lips nervously. "I don't want to do this."

"Are you absolutely positive about that?" he asked me, his voice low and rough. He let my eyes go when his strayed away. He kissed my collarbone, licking and nipping my skin lightly. My body instantly responded, pushing itself up so it was rubbing against his. He made a guttural sound, and his hand started traveling further up my torso. My core was burning, and I could feel my nipples harden. Eric noticed, and he started to massage my breasts. "You seem very willing to do this," he muttered to me.

I was struggling to think straight. My mind knew that this was wrong, and that I needed to put an end to this. My body, however, had grown a mind of its own and was intent on responding to Eric. The great feeling of his cool hand was starting to influence my mind as well. A breath caught in my throat as the kisses started to trail up my neck and toward my mouth. The hand that was imprisoning my wrists loosened slightly, and I took the time to react. I lifted my legs and pressed them against Eric's hips. He grunted at the sudden contact, and I turned my hips and managed to get him to roll under me so that I was now straddling him.

I was lost in a moment of bewilderment, since I wasn't exactly expecting that to work. Eric looked impressed and even hungrier than he had been before. "Oh yes, vampire blood suits you _very_ well, Miss Stackhouse," he said.

I took the moment to jump off the bed, running out his bedroom door and down the steps. I wasn't quite sure where I was planning on going, but the sight of Pam in the living room caused me to stop. She was wearing a black dominatrix-esque dress, with matching black stilettos that's height intimidated me just looking at them. She looked highly amused at my quick arrival in the living room, and she lifted a suggestive eyebrow. "Good to see you're feeling better, Sookie," she said. She was staring at my chest. "You look a little worked up. Or should I say perked up?" She snickered.

"What are you doing here, Pam?" I asked, crossing my arms over my chest. If I weren't talking to a vampire, she might have been upset with my tone.

"Well, this is my master's house, and my master has asked me to be here," she said, smirking a bit. "Although if you want a few more minutes before we leave, feel free to take them."

"Where are we going?" I asked, momentarily distracted.

"The bar," Eric said, coming down the stairs. He had changed into black jeans, and had a gray t-shirt on. His hair was slicked back perfectly. I noticed that his fangs weren't fully retracted, but he more or less ignored me as he walked by me to stand in front of Pam.

"Why are we going to the bar?" I was in no mood to hang out at Fangtasia, let alone with Pam and Eric. Plus, it didn't seem like the brightest idea. "Isn't there a chance Russell will show up there?"

"There's a chance Russell will show up anywhere, including here," Eric said, his back to me. "At the bar, there will be many more allies to us, as well as escape routes, if needed." He didn't like the thought of running from a battle. I, however, was perfectly okay with it.

My gaze drifted down to his bottom, and then I remembered that he knew what I was feeling and quickly looked away. "Can't I just stay here while you go? Or, just drop me off at Jason's or Sam's." I knew better than to ask to go back home. Although, I realized that either I or someone else would have to, because I didn't have any clothes or other things I would need.

Eric turned around to face me. "How can I protect you if you're somewhere else, lover?" he asked me, wagging his finger at me. "You have to go with us."

I felt like being difficult. "Yeah? And what am I going to wear, exactly? This?" I asked, taking a fist full of Eric's t-shirt. The look the two of them gave me said yes, they would very much like me to wander around half naked for the rest of the night.

"Pam has brought you something to wear," Eric said after leering at me for a moment.

I looked at Pam, who was holding up the outfit with a large amount of smugness and pride. I knew Eric was feeling pretty good about it also. I, however, was in a state of complete horror.

"You can't be serious."


End file.
